Who's Lucy?
by Madartiste
Summary: Natsu learns that a life of fame isn't all it's cracked up to be when a slip of the tongue ignites a tabloid frenzy - and reunites him with the girl who stole his heart. (Nalu, modern day AU, normal pairings)
1. Soldout

**_Author's Note:_**_I'm a super terrible song writer, so the song in this is super terrible. Just warning you. This is a modern AU where everything is pretty much like our world except that there are animal folks and spirits. So Happy is still a talking, flying cat, Capricorn is a goat, etc, and no one is weirded out by it too much.  
>Normal pairings: NaLu, Gajevy, Gruvia, and Jerza. Elfgreen doesn't appear, but just assume that's happening when no one else is looking. Also, I promise no Lisanna bashing, 'cause she's awesome.<br>Rated for sassy Aquarius' innuendos, Gajeel cursing like a sailor, and Natsu being unable to keep his hands to himself while he's sleeping. (Language and lime, folks.)_

**_Disclaimer: _**_I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. I wrote the super terrible song, and that's pretty much it. I can't even fathom why someone would want to steal that, but please don't. It's mine._

**_Summary: _**_Natsu and Lucy were inseparable as kids, but he left to pursue his dream of music while she stayed to join her father's company. Now a rockstar, Natsu learns that a life of fame isn't all it's cracked up to be when a slip of the tongue ignites a tabloid frenzy - and reunites him with the girl who stole his heart._

**_SHOUT-OUT!: To the mighty Axlorg89 who beta read this entire thing in ONE DAY. Mad props to you. I couldn't have done it without your help, and it definitely would've been a poorer story._**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 1: SOLDOUT<strong>

**June 2, X793**

"Uuuugh" Natsu sprawled dramatically in the overly plush leather chair, looking pale under his tan. "I hate tour buses… Urk…" He quickly slapped a hand across his mouth before swallowing the metallic tasting saliva that flooded his mouth. Across the room Gajeel had collapsed on the equally over-stuffed couch, groaning and looking green.

"We're not even on the bus anymore," Gray sighed, glancing exasperatedly at Erza before taking another chair and grabbing for the remote control to switch on the television. "Usually you two are fine by now."

Accepting the glass of ginger infused seltzer that Wendy handed him, Gajeel shot him a rather pathetically venomous look. "It's the stupid schedule! We do a show and then hop on the fucking bus again. We'd better not be doing this again. Ever."

"It can't be helped," Erza declared, watching Wendy make her way over to Natsu to hand him another glass of stomach-pacifying liquid. "The record company insisted on a rigorous timetable to hit as many cities as possible. It's earned us a lot of money and good publicity. We're almost done, so just try to hang in there."

"Easy for you to say," Natsu muttered sullenly into his drink.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing, Erza!" he yelped, scurrying out of his chair to put some distance between him and the testy redhead. He slowed his pace and trudged over to one of the huge suite beds, lying down gratefully. Letting his mind unfocus, he only dimly registered the rest of the conversation in the room.

"Our contract with that label is pretty much up. We should consider switching, I think," Levy put in from her perch on the arm of Gajeel's appropriated couch.

Jellal hummed in thought, index finger idly tapping against the crimson tattoo on his cheek. "I think we can all agree that they've been pretty terrible. This tour in particular has been… difficult from top to bottom."

"Not to mention their shitty advertising for our last album," Gajeel groused, taking cautious sip from his glass. He was pleased when it started to settle his stomach.

Juvia nodded vigorously while planting her hands on the back of Gray's chair, oblivious to his wince of discomfort at her volume and closeness, "Juvia did not appreciate their insistence that she pose in her swimsuit! She finds it very distasteful... and they didn't ask Gray to do it too." The brunette rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. Juvia _did_ have a point that none of the guys had been badgered about posing in their skivvies.

"Don't worry. Master Makarov knows about everyone's objections and has been looking at all our options." Erza made a placating gesture with the palm of her right hand. "Once we're done with the tour and back in Magnolia I'm sure -"

"Whoa!" Gray suddenly sat forward in his seat, attracting everyone's attention. He mashed the volume control on the remote and stared intently at the television.

"Isn't that…?" Gajeel started but broke off when the news anchor's voice filled the room.

"- tragic death of Jude Heartfilia, founder and CEO of Heartfilia Konzern and Railways, has been confirmed. Rumors had swirled for years of his failing health despite representative's assurances that the company was stable."

Levy gasped, hands flying to her mouth. "Oh my God! Poor Lu!"

"An inside source claims his daughter, Lucy Heartfilia, has inherited the position of CEO as well as the majority shares to control the corporation. Stock prices have dipped in light of investors concerns and lack of confidence in an untested new head of the company."

Erza turned to look at Natsu with a grim expression. He had propped himself up on the bed on one elbow to watch the screen, but his face was carefully impassive. The tightening grip on his nearly empty drink was the only thing that hinted at his feelings.

"Reporters caught up with Ms. Heartfilia leaving her father's funeral -"

"Fuckers!" Gajeel grit out as the image shifted from the inside of a news studio to one of Lucy, hair pulled back in a neat bun and dressed all in black. She turned face from a camera, eyes red rimmed and skin pale. Loke glowered over his sunglasses next to her, hand gently on her arm. "Can you believe that?! They went after her at her dad's funeral! God damned -"

"Shhh!" hissed Gray with an irritated flap of his hand.

One of the reporters dodged an angry looking Taurus to shove a microphone in the blonde's stoic face. "Ms. Heartfilia! How to do respond to investors concerns about your ability to run the company?"

Clearing her throat, Lucy said calmly, "There will be a press conference tomorrow. We will address all your questions then. Please reserve your -" Still watching him carefully, Erza noted how Natsu's jaw clenched at the sound of her speaking. Through her carefully constructed poise, he could hear the slight tremor in her voice.

"But your stock prices are dropping! How do you -"

The man's question was choked off by Scorpio grabbing the collar of his shirt and dragging him back. Loke deftly moved to block the other journalists, arms spread wide. "Please reserve your questions for the press conference. Ms. Heartfilia has no more comments at this time," the lion spirit said. Behind him Sagittarius opened the door to a black car with tinted windows, helping Lucy inside amid the cacophony of questions being hurled at her.

Natsu's teeth ground together as he watched the car door close to hide the blond woman. If he hadn't been intently focused on her form, he might not have noticed how her hands came up to shield her face, and her shoulders slumped forward in grief. Lucy was hurting.

Levy leapt for her phone and quickly began to retreat from the room. "I'm going to call Lu!"

"Please let her know we're all thinking of her," Erza requested, face still somber. Levy nodded as she shut one of the doors to the extra rooms behind her, seeking privacy in their crowded quarters.

"Reporters are leeches! 'Cept leeches are less disgusting." Gajeel scowled, eyes sliding over to glance at the silent Natsu. In fact, nearly everyone in the room was stealing a peek at him, and he really didn't want to deal with their pity right now. Just one look at Lucy, and he felt like someone had squeezed a fist around his heart.

Hopping to his feet, Natsu plastered a disinterested expression on his face. "I'm gonna take a nap, you guys. That bus really did a number on my stomach." He could tell by the looks they gave him that no one was convinced by his act, in fact, Erza even took a step closer towards him.

The redhead spoke quietly, not wanting to be overheard. "I know you need your rest for the show tonight, but… do you want to talk?"

"Pffft. Nah!" He waved his hand dismissively. "That guy and I never got along anyway."

Erza said lowly, "You know that's not what I…" She stopped and shook her head. Something else had struck her while she'd been watching him. "You didn't seem terribly _surprised_ to hear that he died." Her eyes watched him closely, taking in the way his shoulders tensed and his mouth twisted like he'd tasted something bitter.

"You got somethin' ta say?"

"No… Just… get some sleep." The redhead sighed as she watched him walk into an adjoining room, the door clicking shut softly behind him. Natsu cast himself on a king sized bed, letting his forearm hide his eyes. He wanted to believe the lingering nausea eating at his stomach was just from the bus ride.

"Natsu…"

The pink head jerked at the unexpected soft voice, but settled almost immediately. "Yeah, Happy?" The exceeds might often be considered a new feline species, but their ability to fly and speak set them far apart from their domesticated cousins. Happy might have gotten his name from being, well, happy, but that didn't change the fact that the cat could be surprisingly stealthy and solemn when he wanted to.

Nestling into the pillow next to his friend, the blue exceed looked dejected. "I'm worried about Lucy. I miss her."

Natsu was silent for a long moment, taking in the muffled voices from the other side of the door. Levy had come back and was attempting to sound cheerful, but didn't seem to be succeeding.

He still felt like someone had punched him in the sternum, and it was oddly hard to breathe. _ Shit, this hurts. I'm so dumb. Why didn't I…? _Rolling over slowly, Natsu hugged hisstomach and pressed his face into the cool fabric of the pillow. "Me too, Buddy," he whispered at last, "Me too..."

* * *

><p>July 1, X793<p>

"Uuuugh!" Lucy cried. She had slunk so low into the office chair that Loke worried she might slide right under her enormous desk. "What percent do they have now?"

"41," he said. "But most of the other shareholders are pretty loyal and don't seem like they want to sell just yet."

She nodded, awkwardly pushing herself back into a proper sitting position. Aquarius would get on her case about her posture if she kept slouching like that. "Good. We'll have to find a way to sweet talk them into _staying_ loyal soon. Any progress on the rail expansion?"

"None, I'm afraid. The Junelles are dragging their feet on permits and the investors are starting to get antsy."

"Damn it!" The blonde thumped a fist against the arm of her leather chair for emphasis. "It really sucks that we have to rely on the people who are trying take over the company to get this project going. There's got to be a way around this."

Loke discreetly shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Capricorn is working on it. Jude was always good at leaving some nice little loopholes in big deals like this that would benefit the company."

"I guess we'll just have to trust that Dad didn't get sloppy on this one, huh?" She wearily rubbed at her eyes.

The lion spirit sighed softly. "You look exhausted. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? We're not going to get anything more done today, and it's your birthday. No one would mind."

"I can't do that… Everyone is counting -"

"Um…" Aries' timid voice piped up from the doorway, fingers curling around the doorjamb with only her head horned poked into the office. "Ma'am… Some mail came for you. It was sent rush delivery, but there's no return address."

Lucy held out her hand with a grunt and tore the envelope open when Aries brought it to her. "Better not be another creditor notice, let me tell you. I'm sure I got in touch with all of them regarding Dad's death certificates…" She blinked in surprise when a single ticket slid out onto her lap. "The heck?"

"Oh ho! What's this now?" Loke declared, plucking it up. "It's for the welcome back concert for Fairy Tail tonight." He fanned it in front of his face with a deliberate smirk. "These have been sold out for months. Whoever sent this went to a lot of trouble."

Blushing, Lucy looked away. "I don't have time to go to a concert. If one of you wants to go…"

"No!" Aries squeaked, decidedly embarrassed by the two surprised sets of eyes that shot to her. "I think you should go, Ma'am. You've been working so hard. You deserve to have some fun on your birthday."

"See? If Aries is willing to speak up, that means you've definitely been spending too much time in the office," Loke said, extending the ticket towards his boss.

Lucy's eyes narrowed as she studied both of them in turn, drumming her fingers on the armrest. She puffed out her cheeks briefly before blowing out a long breath. "Fine. Fine!" Snatching the slip of paper out of Loke's hand, she said, "I'll go, but that means that all of _you guys_ have to take the night off too."

Shrugging, Loke commented absently, "You know we don't need to sleep, and as long as we have our contracts with you we don't need to go back to the spirit world to replenish ourselves."

"Still," the blonde countered, "It's hardly fair of you to be slaving away while I'm having a good time. That's not in the spirit of the contracts I've made, and I don't want to be that kind of boss. I'd better not catch any of you doing work while I'm taking a break. That's how this goes."

With a chuckle, the lion spirit swept a courtly bow. "As M'lady commands. I'll inform the rest of the troops of your decree."

"Very funny…" the blonde snorted. She turned the ticket over in her hand, taking in the embossed Fairy Tail logo printed on it. _It's been such a long time since I've seen any of them… Maybe this _will_ be fun - even if they don't know I'm there._

* * *

><p>Lucy dodged another elbow from one of the excited teenagers in the seats next to her. <em>Yeah… so much fun<em>, she thought irritably.

The ticket had put her in the fourth row with a great view of the stage, but the rambunctious high schoolers that were seated with her didn't seem to be too aware of their surroundings. She thought back to the odd look she'd gotten from the usher when she'd showed him her stub, and pondered if maybe he was being sarcastic when he'd said "I'm sure you'll enjoy the show!"

Had the guy known about little-miss-spaghetti-straps and her elbows of death?

She put up a hand to block a flailing appendage and silently thanked Capricorn for insisting she take some self defense lessons. Her reflexes might have dulled a bit over years of not practicing, but they were good enough for this. The spastic, spaghetti-strapped brunette turned to her in surprise, apologizing. "Oh! Sorry, ma'am. I didn't see you there."

_And now I'm a 'ma'am.' Because this was already the most awesome birthday… _"Don't worry about it," Lucy said forcing a smile. No need to take out her frustrations on a bunch of kids just having a good time. "Just maybe watch where your elbows are going, okay?"

"Sure, sure!" the girl said and turned away. Lucy heaved a sigh and considered again that maybe she should've changed her clothes instead of coming straight from the office. The business suit was very professional, but made her stick out like a sore thumb from all the 'Fairy Tail' t-shirts and ripped jeans.

Abruptly the house lights dimmed while the stage lit up. She couldn't help the smile that crawled across her face as she saw all the familiar faces haloed in the bright lights, though one in particular plucked at her heart more than the others.

"Hey, Magnolia! You guys happy to have us back?" Natsu's grin was so huge, Lucy was sure the nosebleed seats could see each of his teeth. He tilted the microphone towards the crowd which roared in enthusiastic response.

"I'm sorry?" He cupped a hand to his ear. "I thought I heard a whisper there for a second. Let's try this again." Once more he pointed his mic to the seats and was rewarded by a thunderous shout that left Lucy's ears ringing.

"That's more like it! Fairy Tail's been to all kinds of crazy places, but there's no where like Magnolia! Best damned city there is, right guys?" The other band members whooped while the crowd hollered. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot. We're supposed to play some music for you. Maybe you've heard this one."

Lucy's face started to hurt from smiling so much as the band played. She'd always heard Fairy Tail concerts were good shows, but she hadn't expected to enjoy herself so much. Even with the huge arena packed, the sound was still crisp and wasn't threatening to shatter her ear drums. _Laxus hasn't lost his touch._

The blonde laughed happily when Natsu took a moment during one of Jellal's famous guitar solos to show off his signature 'fire breathing' trick, the source of his nickname 'Salamander.' She could still remember the day he'd insisted on demonstrating it for her in high school and very nearly set her hair on fire. The gout of flame spewed high into the air from his mouth. The pink haired main crowed jubilantly, the crowd cheered excitedly, and her heart felt lighter.

_I really missed you guys._

"Phew! Man, this a great crowd." Natsu swiped at the exertion produced sweat beading on his forehead as he ducked back stage deep into the show. "Hey, Levy, can you adjust the lights?"

"Uh… sure!" the bluenette piped up despite her confusion.

He spun around with an acoustic guitar in hand but yelped when he found Mirajane and Cana crowding in right behind him. "What are you doing?!" the brunette backup singer cried. "You skipped the audience participation in the last song!"

Looking fierce and leaning into the younger man's face Mira said, "Yes! You were supposed to pull the person with the special ticket on stage. How could you forget?! It's really important!"

"Whoa jeez, you two. I just wasn't feeling it. Besides I've got something else in mind that should be special for everyone." He held up the guitar with a tired smile. Despite all his apparent energy, bruised circles were evident under his dark eyes. The two women exchanged a particularly frustrated look that Natsu decided he didn't quite understand and wasn't sure he wanted to.

"God damn it!" Laxus raged near Levy who was frantically changing settings on the lighting board. "I don't have things set up for that! Friggin' changing plans on me last minute… Now I need to fix all the sound settings for acoustic." The blond sound engineer stomped off, shouting orders to the other stage hands.

Unheard by the pink haired rockstar, Mira leaned over to Cana to whisper, "Well, if he's gonna sing _that_ then maybe this won't be a total failure…"

Natsu decided to ignore the stir he'd caused with a lackadaisical wave. Heading back on to the stage he called out, "It'll be fine!" Strolling to the now spotlighted microphone, Natsu let the murmurs of the crowd wash over him.

"Sorry about that. Just needed to grab something different for this one." He strummed the strings and grinned at the sweet sound. "I figured, since this is a special day… Since this is kinda like homecoming for us, we'd do something a little bit different. You all don't mind if I try something new, do you?"

In her seat, Lucy cringed at the shrill affirmation from the teenagers around her. They apparently didn't mind at all. "Well, alright then! Like I said, this is pretty different than our usual stuff, but let's do this anyway," Natsu chuckled, striking the beginning chords "It's called '_Starlight_.'".

_"__Lying in the summer night  
>Traced the patterns with your finger<br>Those pieces of every burning constellation  
>In my eyes they ever linger<em>

_My breath hung heavy in my chest  
>Couldn't get the words out right<br>Your hair shining like the sun's gold crown  
>More brilliant than it's great light"<em>

Lucy no longer felt so buoyant. A lump began to stick in her throat despite a few desperate swallows, and she clenched her fingers against the uncomfortable armrests that had been abusing her elbows all night.

_"__Always right there with you  
>Through all your thick and thin<br>I thought that it would last for all of ever  
>This star lit bliss within<em>

_The sun can hide its face  
>Too bright, too close for me<br>The moon can fade away  
>Too dim, too far to see<em>

_But can the stars come out tonight?  
>They're the only light I need<br>Can the stars shine tonight?  
>She's the only light I need"<em>

She shook her blond head vigorously, fighting off the stinging in her eyes. _Is he…? Is this about…? _

With a lung rattling gasp, Lucy lurched to her feet. The motion went unnoticed by the surrounding people that were already standing and swaying to the rhythm. "Ex… Excuse me!" she called, pushing her way as politely and urgently as she could towards the aisle. She was pursued by the song as Natsu continued to croon on stage.

_"__Too long, too long I waited  
>Now you're no longer at my side<br>But it's my own two feet that carried me  
>From your river of stars and tide<em>

_The blanket of brilliant lights  
>Covers the pitch black sky<br>The warmth of a thousand solar systems  
>Stolen by your one soft goodbye<em>

_How am I supposed to say  
>All the things that choke my heart<br>When all of the foolish choices I've made  
>Are what have taken us apart?"<em>

Fleeing up the concrete stairs of the stadium, Lucy dashed a hand across her eyes. One of the ushers reached out a hand to right her as she stumbled, gasping. Lucy cast him a nod, but didn't answer when the man asked if she was alright. _I can't… Not today!_

_"__The sun can hide its face  
>Too bright, too close for me<br>The moon can fade away  
>Too dim, too far to see<em>

_But can the stars come out tonight?  
>They're the only light I need<br>Can the stars shine tonight?  
>She's the only light I need<em>

_Please, let the stars come out tonight  
>They're the only light I need<br>Oh, let the stars shine tonight  
>You're the only light I need"<em>

Natsu let his eyes focus back on the crowd, anticipating cheers as he finished, but sucked in a breath of shock. Standing at the top of the arena, he spotted a head of painfully familiar golden hair turning to face him. Even at that distance, he knew her silhouette. "Lucy?" he called, louder than he meant to, sending the name careening through the air.

The sudden animated applause and excited activity of the people blocked his view of the woman. He started forward, toppling over the microphone in front of him. Natsu caught it before it fell with a soft curse of irritation. By the time he straightened it, he had completely lost sight of the golden girl. _That couldn't… It couldn't be._

Jellal was the first to react to Natsu's obvious lapse in concentration, sweeping in to close out the show with a few gracious comments. The Salamander staggered off stage looking dazed and, for once, deaf to the adulation of throngs of people.

He passed the guitar off to Bisca who gave him a worried look. "Nothing," he muttered, preempting her question, as he kept walking. "It's nothing."

"Hey!" Natsu jumped when a hand clamped down on his arm. "You okay? You look seriously spooked, kid." Gildarts frowned.

The huge man let go when the pinkette hastily tugged free. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought… But we _are_ in Magnolia..." he said to himself. "Maybe…" Gildarts' frown deepened in concern, brows drawing heavily together.

"Mr. Dragneel!" The two turned towards the voice, and Natsu swore when he saw a man with a press badge pinned to his obnoxious floral print shirt. "Hi! That was one heck of a show you put on."

"Yeah, thanks. It was a great crowd tonight." Natsu forced a weary smile, deeply regretting the promise he'd made for an after show interview. _What the hell was I thinking? _"Look, I'm pretty beat. I don't suppose -"

"The debut of a new song! You weren't kidding when you said it was different than your usual works. How do you think it was received?"

He sighed heavily, casting a frustrated look to Gildarts who just smiled blandly back. "I think they liked it. People tend to be pretty accepting when we experiment with our music. We did a studio recording of it, so you should be hearing it on the radio soon."

"Exciting!" the journalist exclaimed, scribbling in his notebook. "Now to the important question: Who's Lucy?"

Natsu blanched. "Wha… What?!"

"You said the name Lucy after the song. Is that who you wrote it for? You've never written a love song in your career and have been on record saying you 'don't write sap.' So is this a new girl in your life?"

Natsu backed up, feeling a sick clench in his stomach, but the reporter pressed forward relentlessly. "Will we be seeing you with her soon? She must be pretty important to -"

"I'm sorry," Gildarts practically cooed, interposing himself between the journalist and the rockstar. "We're going to have to cut this short. I'm afraid Mr. Dragneel really isn't feeling well at the moment. You know how it is…" He planted a pair of huge hands on the much smaller man's shoulders, easily spinning him around. "A whirlwind tour, a big show, all that stress. Why don't you contact Evergreen, and she can get you copy of our press release."

"But… but!" The half-hearted protests faded down the hall as Gildarts forcefully steered the man away.

Natsu stared unseeing, letting his legs give out under him. He dropped cross legged in the middle of the hall, burying his fingers in his bright hair. "Shit! This isn't… Not like this…"

"Wow. You okay?" Gray's voice was uncharacteristically hesitant, footsteps slowing as he took in the singer's obvious distress. "You took off all of the sudden, and now I find you sitting on the floor out here. What the hell happened?"

Eyes wide and desperate, Natsu croaked, "I fucked up…"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Other Note: <em>**_In case anyone is getting confused by what different people do in the story, he's a handy list. _

For reference The Fairy Tail Crew:

Natsu: Lead singer, guitarist, songwriter, and all around poster boy  
><em>Gray: Bass<br>Jellal: Secondary singer, guitarist  
>Gajeel: Drums, songwriter<br>Juvia: Piano/keyboard  
>Cana, Wendy, Mirajane: Backup singerseye candy when Cana and Mira they feel like it  
>Lisanna, Macao, Wakaba, Jet, Droy: other instruments (depending on the song)<br>Makarov: Agent/Manager  
>Erza: Stage manager<br>Gildarts, Elfman: Security  
>Levy: Electronics maintenance<br>Laxus: Sound engineer  
>Freed: Press copy<br>Evergreen: Public Relations  
>Reedus: Photographer<br>Bixlow: Pyrotechnics  
>Laki: AccountantLawyer  
>Max, Bisca, Alzack, Vijeeter, Kinana, Nab, Warren, and pretty much everyone else: Stagehands and various other useful stuff<em>

Lucy's Spirits:  
><em>Loke: Lucy's personal assistant and sometimes bodyguard<br>Capricorn: Business adviser  
>Aquarius: Public Relations<br>Scorpio and Taurus: Security  
>Virgo: Maid, manages most of the non-image and non-business things in Lucy's life<br>Cancer: Stylist, responsible for making Lucy look fabulous  
>Sagittarius: Chauffeur<br>Aries: Secretary  
>Gemi and Mini: a bit of everything<em>


	2. Starlight, Everywhere

_**Author's Note:**_ _Just to clear up any misconceptions about the rating, it's more due to caution than really being explicit. There's a decent amount of cursing (especially from Gajeel) and one scene that's (if I didn't completely screw it up) kinda racy. If you're here keeping your fingers crossed for a lemon, I'm going to sorely disappoint you. If you prefer your scenes more lime flavored, I might have accommodated that. If you guys think I was too harsh with the rating, I might drop it back to 'T', but the ratings explanations from FF made it seem like this leaned more 'M'.  
><em>_This story is entirely written, and I will publish a new chapter on Sundays and Thursdays (barring any unforeseen circumstances) until it is all up. I was originally just going to do Sundays, but discovered that the extra days to obsess over future chapters were really not helping things. There are six chapters and an epilogue, though the epilogue is short so I will most likely post that along with chapter six.  
><em>_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. If I did, we'd all be drowning in main pairing shipper feels all the time. The only things that are mine are the song Starlight and the obnoxious, loudly printed shirt, unnamed reporter guy.  
><em>_**Shout-out!: To the intrepid axlorg89 who put up with my needy questioning and gave me some really great feedback. This probably would've languished forever on my hard drive otherwise.**_

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 2: STARLIGHT, EVERYWHERE<strong>

**July 2, X793**

Erza, with exaggerated politeness, laid a sheaf of newsprint that still smelled of fresh ink in the middle of the band's breakfast table. Everyone leaned in curiously, but cautiously. Silence descended.

Jellal broke the quiet by clearing his throat. "That's… unfortunate?"

"A pretty mild way of putting it," Gray muttered in disgust.

"Juvia doesn't think it's so bad. They obviously don't know anything concrete."

"Well, shit," Gajeel declared, glowering at the tabloid headline. In enormous block letters on the front page read _'Who's Lucy?: The heart of the notoriously single Salamander is bewitched by a mystery girl.'_ He shook his dark head slowly before staring pointedly at Natsu. "How the hell did this even happen? What possessed you to -"

"I thought I saw her, okay?!" Tired of being harassed by his friends, the pink haired man growled. They'd spent all last night trying to pry the truth out of him, and he just didn't have the patience for it anymore. "I couldn't help it." He bit down hard on his viciously speared sausage, teeth clashing against the fork.

"You _thought_ you saw her?" Cana spoke up, eyes shifting to meet Mirajane's in the seat next to her.

Shaking his perpetually tousled head, Natsu smiled bitterly. "Stupid, I know. There was a girl with blond hair, but she was too far away to see well. Like she would really be there, right?"

"Weeeellllll…." Mira hedged. "Maybe not _that_ stupid."

No one spoke for a moment until Erza leaned forward over the table towards the two women, palms planted firmly on the surface to support herself. "What. Did. You. Do?!"

Chuckling and waving her hands placatingly, Mira said, "Oh, nothing crazy! It's just that we, Cana and I, remembered that yesterday was Lucy's birthday…"

"Yeah," the brunette jumped in. "We thought it might be a nice thing to send her a ticket! That's not so bad, right? For her birthday." Her laughter sounded strained under Erza's ominous stare. "Maybe it was a special ticket but…"

"YOU WHAT?!" Natsu was now gawking at the two looking horrified, fingers gripping his fork so tightly his knuckles were white.

Heaving a sigh, Erza straightened. "Am I to understand you decided to send Lucy a ticket to last night's concert? For her birthday, yes," she acceded when Cana started to clarify. "But not just any ticket. You sent her the one that normally would've had her called up on stage as part of the show… in front of everyone… without warning the rest of us?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds sort of unkind," Mira pouted, the only one in the room unintimidated by her redheaded friend.

"We don't know that it was her, do we?" Jellal asked, attempting to diffuse the situation. He really wasn't ready to mediate a fistfight over breakfast. "That was an enormous crowd, and I'm sure there were lots of blond women there."

"She definitely used her ticket," the eldest Strauss said confidently. "Or someone did, anyway. I checked with the venue gate records before the show started to be sure."

"Not helping, Mira," Cana hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

The table suddenly jostled as Natsu scrambled to his feet, and Gray lunged forward to stop the drinks from tumbling over. "Jeez, man! Take it easy." His eyes widened when he took in the pink haired man's pale face. The rockstar looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

"But… She… Augh!" Natsu's fingers scrubbed through the spikes of his hair, upsetting them even more than usual. "I should've…!"

Erza's authoritative voice split the tense air like an axe. "Everyone just calm down. I know this seems like it's a terrible thing, but - "

"Terrible?!" Evergreen butt in. "Are you crazy? You can't buy this kind of publicity. Just think! We can absolutely spin this to our advantage and use it to promote the new album!" She looked positively gleeful at the thought.

"No." Natsu shook his head, jaw set. "No way. You are not going to use Lucy like that. She's got her own problems. She doesn't need to be dragged into crazy paparazzi territory."

"But the opportunities… Oh, fine!" Evergreen crossed her arms belligerently. "If you're going to be that way, we'll just have to ride this out. No one is going to mention Lucy. If the press doesn't get anything new, they'll eventually lose interest."

Cana looked up at the still twitching Natsu. "Don't you think you should at least talk to her? There's no way she didn't realize that song was about her. You even sang it on her birthday for a concert in your hometown. Pretty hard to miss _that_ message."

Sputtering, the pink haired star actually blushed. A flustered Natsu was a rare sight. "It's not… I didn't…!"

"Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that," she snickered over the rim of her whiskey spiked coffee.

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just don't think it's a good idea. Lucy's still probably grieving for her dad, and she's already dealing with those reporters bugging her about the business. She really doesn't need me to pull her into some kind of tabloid hell."

"We're going to be busy the next few days with other commitments as it is," Freed reminded them, flipping through the hefty itinerary in his hands. "There are interviews, an awards show, that event to promote the music education program…"

"Still," Erza said. "I think it would only be fair of you to speak to her. You can disguise yourself a bit if you're afraid of attracting attention."

"I dunno… I'm not sure -"

"Perhaps I stuttered." The aura of menace became palpable around the redheaded stage manager, making everyone else cringe. "You _should_ go see her _soon_ and wish Lucy a happy belated birthday. It's the least you can do for a friend who's going through a tough time."

"Yep! Definitely gonna do that, Erza. Ha ha ha! Great idea!" Natsu hastily agreed. He really didn't feel like dying today anyway.

* * *

><p><strong>July 5, X793<strong>

"_But can the stars come out tonight?  
><em>_They're the only light I need  
><em>_Can the stars shine tonight?  
><em>_She's the only light I need"_

Lucy cleared her throat from the back seat of the car. "Sagittarius, would you mind…?"

"Alrighty, M'lady!" the spirit exclaimed, quickly changing the radio station.

"_Please, let the stars come out tonight  
><em>_They're the only light I need  
><em>_Oh, let the stars shine tonight_ -"

"You know what? I'm tired of the radio," Lucy said exasperatedly while the horse-costumed celestial spirit flipped the music off. "I think that's the only song anyone is playing."

"It does seem extremely popular," Loke mentioned with an amused smirk, earning himself a glare from the blonde in the back seat.

"Almost as popular as 'Who's Lucy.'" Flipping some of her long blue hair over her shoulder, Aquarius crossed her legs. It was a habit she had cultivated ever since she sorted out how to give herself 'land-legs.' "Do we need to discuss your lunch date with Sawarr Junelle? Anything I should know before you do irreparable damage to the company's image?"

Lucy groaned. "I didn't punch him, if that's what you're asking. Though I feel like maybe I should have…" She could still feel the clammy sensation of his palm sliding against her inner thigh. Next time she would wear pants for sure.

"Is there something _I_ need to know about?" Loke craned around to look at the two women from the front seat of the car, frowning.

"No. It's nothing. He just… doesn't have an appropriate concept of boundaries. It's not new, and I can handle him." The young CEO sighed. "He's exactly how I remembered him from when Dad wanted to arrange our marriage when I graduated high school."

"That bad, huh?" Aquarius actually looked sympathetic. "He sweats so much and always wants to put his hands places they shouldn't go. It's revolting."

Lucy chewed her lip. He'd also been ignorantly condescending and implied she wouldn't 'need' to work again if she was his wife.

The car pulled into it's usual spot underneath the enormous Heartfilia Konzern and Railways building, and Lucy quickly let herself out even as Sagittarius scrambled to get to her door. As usual, she waved him off with a soft smile and thanked him for the smooth ride. "Yeah, well, he _did_ promise he could save the company."

"From his own family's hostile takeover attempt." Loke shook his shaggy head in distaste, joining her as she headed towards the elevator to get to her office. "It's basically extortion."

"But I'm starting to feel like we're running out of options…" Lucy admitted reluctantly.

Standing with them, Aquarius heaved a dramatic sigh. "You could always hook up with Natsu. It would do wonders for your image if you had a famous boyfriend." The sound of Loke's palm connecting with his forehead and Lucy's choking made her smile impishly.

"Look," their boss started as she stepped out of the elevator, "I know you all seem to think the song is a declaration of undying love or something, but that's not the case! He probably just used our… relationship as inspiration to write something that would sell. I haven't seen him in years, and he hasn't tried to contact me." She ignored the pang in her chest. "It doesn't mean anything."

"Um, Ma'am?" Aries shifted nervously from foot to foot while standing near the office door. "There's someone here to see you…"

Lucy frowned, glancing at Loke for confirmation. "I don't remember having an appointment." The lion spirit shrugged and shook his head negative. Feeling suddenly determined, Lucy strode past her timid secretary. "Whoever it is better not pick a fight. I'm pretty fired up… today..."

She gawked, jaw hanging loose. Sitting in the chair across from her desk was a man in a ratty windbreaker with a baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes. If it wasn't for the spiky ends of pink hair poking out from where they were smashed down around the nape of his neck and the achingly familiar scarf she might not have recognized him.

And the face splitting grin. She'd never mistake that. "Na… Natsu?!"

Behind her Loke shut the office door with a mischievous smile, effectively cutting off any escape route. He might have be as surprised as she, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to take advantage of it.

_Traitor!_ she thought vehemently. Struggling to maintain her cool demeanor, Lucy did her best to tamp down the nerves zinging through her body. "What are you doing here?"

"Hah! Your face! Man, that was fantastic," the star chortled while slapping his hand on the arm of the chair in delight, making her scowl ferociously. "You weirdo."

_You're weird. We should be friends!_

"Yes, well, that still doesn't tell me why you're in my office."

"Oh right!" He leapt to his feet and passed her a thin, plastic case. "Your face was so funny, I almost forgot."

She stared, vaguely horrified, at the disc visible through the clear case cover. Scrawled in Natsu's terrible handwriting was the word "Starlight." _The universe hates me._

The young man had jammed his hands deep into the pockets of his faded jeans and rocked back on his sneaker shod heels. "That's a copy of the studio recording. It's not really supposed to be available yet, but I figured we could make an exception for you. Happy birthday!"

"You… shouldn't have," Lucy responded diplomatically.

"Nah! It's cool." He fidgeted, eyes skittering around the room rather than looking at her. "I mean, that song… it's sorta about… It's because I -"

"Are you hungry?" she broke in, fearing the next words out of his mouth and earning a look of surprise. "Because my business lunch was really awful. I barely ate anything, and I could seriously go for a burger right now."

He grinned his impossible grin. "You know me, Lucy. I could always eat. Though…" Natsu scratched at the side of his face with his index finger. "It might not be super smart for me to go out somewhere that people could see us. Not that I don't want to be seen with you," he started to babble, "but those paparazzi guys can get pretty bad, and they already want to know…"

"Oh, don't worry. I've got an idea," she declared confidently, grabbing the door handle and swinging it open. "Hey, Aries, would you mind -" Lucy stopped short at the sight of the three spirits standing right at the threshold.

"Yes, ma'am?" the ram squawked. She was the only one with the decency to look abashed for having been caught eavesdropping. Loke and Aquarius were just smug.

"On second thought. Loke, would you mind grabbing us some food?" If he was going to show no shame, his boss would at least make him do some legwork.

With a flourish, he nudged his glasses up his nose. Loke still looked far too pleased with himself. "I would be delighted, Lucy. I can grab a blanket too, so you can have a refreshing picnic in the park."

"Man," Natsu said enviously, "I wish I had cool spirits to get me food."

Loke shrugged. "Anyone can make a contract with a spirit. You don't need any special abilities, just a willing spirit."

"Yeah, but not everyone is Lucy." The woman blushed at Natsu's oblivious flattery. "You really awesome guys won't even think of making a deal with just anybody."

"We powerful spirits _are_ quite picky," Loke agreed, practically preening over the unintended compliment. "And Lucy is rather exceptional when it comes to making contracts. Though… I could put in a good word for you with some of the lesser spirits."

"Seriously?!" The star said excitedly. "That would be great! I could get one that would fight with -"

"No," Lucy cut him off. "You can't just make a contract with a spirit so you can practice your martial arts on them." She ignored his noise of disappointment. "And Loke? Stop winding Natsu up. You're being a bad influence."

As much as she would have liked to inflict a bit of anguish on the cocky lion, Lucy had to admit the picnic was a great idea. By the time they were settled in under the tree and digging into the food, she'd already begun to relax. They chatted about nothing, making jokes and teasing in a way that relieved some of the weight that had taken residence in her chest since her father's death.

Natsu amused himself by stealing the pins out of her hair between bites of his hamburgers until the blond locks tumbled down her back where the wind caught at it. "Gee, thanks, Natsu. Now I get to enjoy the lovely flavor of strawberry shampoo with my meal," she groused while trying to pull the wayward strands out of her mouth, though there was no real anger in her complaint.

"Aww, c'mon. You never liked wearing it up. Besides, I like you better this way." Lucy stilled, feeling an awkward knot start to form in her stomach from the easy way he'd made the comment. In the past she would have brushed it off as Natsu simply saying what was on his mind, but looking at him now… He watched her from the corner of his eyes with a strange sort of intensity.

She hesitated before saying, "Someone else told me today that I look better with it up."

"Pfft." Flopping on his back, half on the blanket and half in the grass, Natsu wrinkled his nose in the shadow of his baseball cap. "That someone is stupid. It makes you look like someone else. Like not Lucy."

Silence stretched between them for a long moment while Lucy tried to form a response. Eventually she gave up, beginning to pack up the remnants of their lunch. She brushed the crumbs from her pencil skirt before standing and slipping her shoes back on. Natsu's calculating gaze felt like a firebrand under her skin.

"I had fun," she admitted, staring off at a group of teenagers playing frisbee in the grass. "I'd forgotten how nice this could be. I hate to cut this short, but I really do need to get back to the office. No fair for the boss to be a slacker."

The incognito rock star rolled to his feet with covetous grace. "Yeah! This was great." Snatching up the blanket, he sloppily folded it. "We should totally do this again. How 'bout tomorrow?" The earnestness in his eyes as he extended the bundled blanket to her made Lucy's heart stutter.

"I… I can't. I have a lunch meeting with investors…"

His smile sagged a bit. "'Kay. Then the day after?"

"There's a engineers' presentation about train fuel efficiency."

Now the smile was gone. "Dinner." She shook her head, starting to answer before he cut her off, "Breakfast the next day?" Another headshake made his teeth grind. "C'mon, work with me here!"

"I'm really sorry, Natsu, but I've got a lot of work ahead of me to get HK&R back in shape. I don't think I'll have any free time for awhile." His mouth had turned down at the corners, and she laid gentle fingertips on his arm. Lucy could feel the tension radiating off of him. "I really did have a nice time. It was… It was good to see you. Maybe when things die down." Carefully, she took the offered blanket from him, trying in vain to ignore the spark from where her fingers brushed his warm, calloused ones.

"Sure," he whispered. Her soft, sad smile cast over a shoulder as she walked away made Natsu bury his mouth into the scarf around his neck to hide the way he bared his teeth in frustration. He didn't want to think that the burning pit in his gut was anger - he could never stay mad at Lucy - but he sure didn't care for it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Extra Author's Notes (On Spirits in the AU):<strong>_ _ In this world, spirits can come and go as they please between the human and celestial realms. However, in order to freely stay they need to form a contract with a human. They don't need to eat or sleep and instead draw their nourishment from the energy of the person they've contracted with. Stronger spirits are more picky about who they'll make a deal with and are more likely to contract with someone who's already got a contract with another spirit. The Zodiacs in particular are known for being extremely choosy, and the fact that Lucy has ten of them working for her makes her quite exceptional.  
><em>

_Spirits are the only beings (aside from exceeds who have their Aera) able to use magic. While they used to wage war on behalf of their human partners, these days there are strict rules regarding the use of their powers. Anyone caught wrecking the joint without a very good reason can expect a visit from the Celestial Law Bureau. Nobody wants that. They're meanies._


	3. Mistakes Are Made

_**Author's Note:**_ _Chapters 2 and 3 are a bit shorter than most of the others. After this, they get at least a bit longer longer. This should be a fairly fluffy chapter overall, but might also start to illustrate just why Natsu is hesitant to get Lucy caught up in the crazy, tabloid fodder part of his life. There's more setup than action in this one, though things will start rolling more in Chapter 4. I also happen to think Lisanna is pretty fantastic, so you'll see a bit of her being a good friend in this one.  
><em>_In case anyone is wondering about it, the lack of Japanese terms is purely personal preference. Things like honorifics and a few other words make sense in the right context since they're hard to translate well, but since this is a modern AU I just did what felt right to me. This isn't a knock on people who prefer to write using them, but it's why Juvia doesn't refer to Gray with the 'sama' suffix. I decided against getting rid of her habit of self-addressing since it just seems like such a 'her' trait and kind of an interesting quirk for a delightfully oddball gal.  
><em>_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. If I did, we'd all be drowning in main pairing shipper feels all the time. The only things that are mine are the song Starlight and the annoying, unnamed reporter guy. Reporter guy is available for loan, but please don't steal the song.  
><em>_**Shout-out!: To my beta reader axlorg89. Thank you for the help and encouragement!**_

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 3: MISTAKES ARE MADE <strong>

**July 15, X793**

"You're listening to 94.5 FM! This is Sugarboy, and today we've got some pretty spicy guests on our show. Juvia Lockser and Jellal Fernandes from the insanely popular band, Fairy Tail! Say hello to our listeners, you two."

Jellal adjusted his headset again with a firm greeting as Juvia scooted her chair slightly closer to the microphone. "Juvia is most honored to be here."

"We've got some questions for you. Fairy Tail seems to come from some pretty diverse backgrounds. Juvia, I understand that you were trained in classical piano?"

"That is correct. Juvia studied music from an early age," the bluenette said in her habitually even tone.

"Did you ever think that you'd end up playing in a rock band? That's a pretty big leap!"

She shook her head before remembering that no one could see her through the radio. "No. Juvia was told she would be a concert pianist and had to work very hard all the time. But… she likes being in Fairy Tail better."

"No doubt. And Jellal, is it true that you're entirely self taught?"

Smiling, the musician tipped his head slightly. "Everyone seems quite surprised to find that out."

"Well, you _are_ consistently ranked as one of the top five guitarists in the world. What inspired you to take up music?"

"Ah, I started learning as," he tugged on the collar of his dress shirt, feeling slightly edgy talking about himself, "part of my therapy…"

"Most of your fans have heard stories about your troubled past. It's a pretty remarkable journey you've made. Has Fairy Tail played a big part in that?"

"Oh yes! I have no doubt that I would've ended up somewhere far different if it wasn't for my friends." Smiling softly, Jellal thought of the rambunctious group.

"Juvia too!" she affirmed. "She owes them so much. And without them, she never would have met her darling Gray."

The blond radio jock chuckled. "Sounds like love is in the air for you guys. Which leads me to the question everyone is dying to know the answer to." Jellal and Juvia exchanged quick, anxious looks. "Who's Lucy?"

Awkward silence dragged on as the two stars desperately tried to think of a way to deflect the question. The extended dead air made their host frown. "I'm sure your fans would really -"

"Jellal and Erza are engaged!" Juvia blurted out, clapping her hands over her mouth as soon as the words were said.

"Juvia!" her friend hissed, icy dread prickling his body. Erza would murder him for sure.

"What?!" Sugarboy exclaimed, "Really?!" He leaned forward, eyes wide and fingers clutching the edge of the table in his surprise.

Tugging more aggressively on his collar this time, Jellal let out a nervous titter. "Ah hah hah... Yes, you see, we were trying to keep that a bit more… private." Juvia cast him a look mixing apology and terror.

"Well, congratulations! I'm sure all our lady listeners are going to be heartbroken."

Erza hit the pause button to stop the recording that played on her laptop, turning slowly to stare at the pair of bowed, blue heads in front of her. She remained silent with her arms crossed, waiting.

Finally, Juvia broke. Her hands came up over her still lowered head, pressed together in supplication. "Juvia is sorry! She panicked! Please do not kill her."

"No one is dying. At least not today," the redhead relented. "I do wish we could have kept this information to ourselves for a while longer, but Evergreen seems to think it was inevitable. The press would have gotten wind of it sooner or later."

Jellal tried to keep his sigh of profound relief as discreet as possible while Erza continued. "At the very least it served the purpose of distracting everyone from Lucy. It will give them something else to talk about for a while."

"They might not be as interested in her connection to _us_ now, but have you guys seen this?" Gray waved a newspaper in the air. "Apparently everyone thinks she's going to get hitched to this Junelle guy."

"What?" Natsu sat up from where he had been watching Erza menace his two bandmates with mild amusement, grabbing for the gossip column. Next to the pleasant article about the annual Magnolia summer fair was a picture of Lucy and a very unattractive man sitting in a restaurant. "No way! I remember this guy. Her dad tried to hook them up when she was in high school." He made a sour face at the memory. "He's, like, fifteen years older than Lucy and was creeping all over her."

Watching his friend wrinkle the newsprint with agitated hands, Gray shrugged. "According to that, they were seen having an," he paused to make air quotes, "intimate lunch." Natsu ground his teeth together, crumpling the paper completely.

Levy frowned. "Do you mean Sawarr Junelle? That would be strange," she murmured. "I'm pretty sure his family are the ones instigating the hostile takeover of Heartfilia Konzern and Railways."

"Seriously?" Gajeel scoffed. "And she's supposed to be marrying that asshole?"

Jellal hummed in thought. "It might make sense if…" Casting a glance at an already seething Natsu, he hesitated. "Maybe he's trying to make a deal."

"What? If she marries him, she can keep the company?" the studded drummer threw out with a harsh laugh, but his expression morphed into one of revulsion as soon as the words passed his lips. "Wait. You don't think…"

"But that's… that's…!" Levy looked stricken.

"I don't think it's wise to jump to any conclusions here," Erza said reasonably. "The media has a tendency to blow things out of proportion, as we all know. It may just have been a simple business meeting to discuss options."

"That someone is stupid..." Natsu muttered darkly, thinking of Lucy's loose hair shining in the sun at the park. The sound made the others look at him, and he shook his head with a deep frown. "_She_ might be talking options, but _that_ guy… I know she can't stand him. She wouldn't…"

He stood and paced a few steps, trying to ignore how everyone in the room had their eyes trained on his every move. Was that why Lucy hadn't been willing to see him again? Because she was thinking of marrying Sawarr? Or because the bastard was threatening her… He scrubbed a tanned palm down his face. "Augh! I don't know what to do!"

Lisanna reached out a hand to catch his sleeve, effectively stopping the rock star's restless motions. "I don't know that there's anything you _can_ do, Natsu, except give her your support." She smiled warmly, skin around her eyes crinkling. "I bet she could really use a friend right now."

"Aye!" declared Happy, pleased to finally contribute something positive to the tense conversation. "Nobody can cheer Lucy up like Natsu!"

He stared at the blue exceed for a moment before a grin spread across his face. Unfolding the mangled newspaper in his hands, he scanned the page briefly. "You know, I think I might just have a plan. Thanks, Lisanna! Happy!" Natsu called as he dashed out of the room.

"Why does the thought of him having a plan make me really nervous?" Gray asked after a long silence. No one seemed inclined to answer.

* * *

><p>"No, please," Lucy begged over her cellphone, free hand clenched in her once carefully arranged blond locks. Cancer would definitely be having words with her later. "We really do need your support. I know it's taking a bit of time, but I'm sure…" She paused, listening to the voice over the phone and biting her lip. "I understand that, but we're definitely…"<p>

The other party spoke again, and the youthful CEO let her head hang. "No, I understand," she said dejectedly. "You have to think of your own position, of course. I appreciate you sticking with us this far. Please take care…" With a groan she pushed the button to end the call, glaring at the screen with what little ire she could muster.

"Another one bites the dust?" Loke asked.

Lucy sprawled her torso, face down, across the huge wooden desk that used to be the focal point of her father's office. "Yep. Another investor gone. We lose any more and the rail expansion is totally sunk." She sighed gustily, breath fogging up the lacquered surface. "If we could just get enough capital to get started, we might be able to get around the Junelles' stalling. But no one trusts me enough…"

Capricorn set his index finger against her forehead, giving a gentle push to force the woman back into a proper sitting posture. "Confidence will come in time. You are doing an excellent job rallying support for our other projects."

"But this is the big one!" Lucy cried, hands flinging into the air. "If we can't get the rail expansion through, it could tank the entire company! Dad tied so many of our resources into it, I'm not sure I can unravel things."

Loke cut in, "It's not so different from when you renegotiated the contract for the new engine construction. You managed to cut apart and rewrite that disaster of a deal without breaking a sweat."

She smiled crookedly. "It _was_ pretty fun. Had those guys eating out of the palm of my hand…" Shaking herself out of the memory, Lucy's expression became serious again. "But that wasn't the same. We didn't have so much riding on the contract even if it _was_ predatory."

"It's always unwise to put all your eggs in one basket," the goat spirit agreed. "But the railways are just one part of this corporation. Even if we lose that facet, there are other, smaller, arms that could keep us afloat."

"I just don't know where else we can focus our efforts. We're stretched so thin on all fronts." Lucy spun her chair to stare out the picture window at the skyscrapers making up downtown Magnolia. "I'm running short on ideas."

The two spirits shared a look that betrayed mutual concern. Loke made a gesture towards their boss and raised an eyebrow at Capricorn. The goat adjusted his sunglasses before speaking. "Perhaps you should take a break, Lucy. You've spent the last ten days working right through lunch and even stayed late nearly every day. Some distance might give you a fresh perspective."

"I think that's a great idea." All three turned to look at Aquarius who strutted passed her male colleagues to stand in front of Lucy's desk. She dropped a bundle of clothing in front of the young woman. "Put these on."

"Wha…?" Lucy said dumbly as she picked up the t-shirt and shorts. "I get that these will be more comfortable, but how is it supposed to -"

"Well, you can't go to the fair dressed like _that_." She gaped at the familiar lean figure lounging against her office threshold. "I'm pretty sure you'd look even weirder than normal if you went wearing a fancy suit." Natsu held up a baseball cap similar to the one he was sporting with a wide grin. "Plus, this would just look plain goofy with it."

After getting badgered by four of her spirit assistants - even Aries joined in - Lucy finally caved and changed into the casual clothes. Natsu dropped the cap on her head with a satisfied pat to set it in place, stating that her look was complete and no one would recognize them now. She had pointed out the distinctive scarf he wore, but Natsu, as usual, brushed it off. Of course Aquarius had to add a parting shot of "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" with a suggestive chortle.

As skeptical as Lucy had been, an uncomplicated bus ride, even with a motion sick Natsu, made her consider that he might have a point. No one even looked twice at the duo. Well, maybe twice when they saw Natsu stagger off the bus and actually kiss the ground in relief.

"Still can't handle transportation, huh?" She favored him with a sympathetic grimace.

"Urgh, yeah… It's not so bad when I drive, but it sucks the rest of the time," he admitted. "Being on solid ground is definitely helping though. What do you want to do first?" The pink haired man smiled and swept his hands out to indicate the fair grounds filled with booths, rides, and people.

"The ferris wheel is out unless I want to ride by myself," Lucy commented, "Which I don't. So, do you mind if we check out the craft booths first?"

"Anything you want," he grinned. "This is your break time."

The two headed out, quickly being absorbed by the press of people. When Lucy stopped, leaning forward to admire some wire wrapped jewelry, she felt Natsu crowd in behind her for a look. A gentle nudge with an elbow earned her a temporary bit of breathing room. But as they maneuvered down the causeway, Lucy was quickly reminded of Natsu's poor understanding of personal space.

Bumping hips from walking too close, peering over her shoulder, grabbing her arm to get her attention… _How could I forget? _He'd always been such a physical person, seeming to prefer experiencing the world through raw senses and action.

_I'm just holding on tight so I don't lose you, Lucy!_

She suppressed a shiver of awareness as he spoke into her ear to be heard over the thrum of the crowd. The puffs of hot air made her skin prickle. "You getting hungry yet? I'm starved!"

Just as always, he seemed entirely unfazed by the close contact, but she could swear he lingered a moment as his nose brushed the shell of her ear. _No! Bad, Lucy. Focus!_ "Sure. Oh! Can we get some chicken-on-a-stick? I haven't had that in forever. I can almost taste the sauce," she hummed in anticipated pleasure, eyes closing.

Natsu laughed heartily. "You make the best faces, Lucy. Let's get some." He grabbed her hand, tugging the young blonde behind him eagerly.

She hadn't given much thought to the hand holding at first. The crowd was heavy, and it _did_ make it easier for them to stay together. But as they ate their food, played games, and stopped to listen to the various musical acts over the next few hours, she noticed Natsu seemed reluctant to let go of her fingers. He reached out to capture them again as he tugged her over to watch a trio of drummers perform. _I'd forgotten just how warm his hands are… It feels… nice. _

By now the sun had already set and people were congregating in the open field area beyond the main thoroughfare. The first boom of fireworks reached them, mixing with the rhythmic thud of the drums, and Lucy smiled to herself. Craning her neck back, she watched the splashes of color and light in the sky accompanied by 'oohs' and 'aahs' of the other people gathered around them. _Maybe it's okay to enjoy being like this just for now. _

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," she whispered, and it was only his ridiculously good hearing that let him catch it.

"For what?"

Lucy let her eyes slide closed, still smiling. "I had fun today."

His breath caught, taking in the way the intermittent bursts of light from the fireworks illuminated her face. Opening his mouth, Natsu suddenly found he couldn't quite piece together all the things clamoring around in his skull into a coherent sentence. _I forgot she does that to me..._

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, the rose haired star stepped closer so that they were shoulder to shoulder. He gently weaved their fingers together, wanting to savor the cool, soft feel of her hand in his. Finally, he said the only thing that was solid in his mind, "Me too, Lucy. Me too."

* * *

><p><strong>July 16, X793<strong>

Natsu had always been a deep sleeper, but also prided himself on being very aware of his surroundings. It wasn't easy to get the drop on the Salamander. That did nothing to stop him from jolting awake with an undignified thrashing of limbs when Evergreen dropped a magazine on his face. "What the fuck?!" He narrowly avoided plunging off the edge of the bed.

"I think I should be asking that. Are you stupid?!" she demanded, picking the magazine back up and waving it in his face.

Dark eyes still fuzzy with sleep traced the erratically moving publication as Natsu tried to figure out what had the woman so worked up. It took a bit, but something leapt out at him and sank like a stone into his stomach. "Wha… Wait! Is that…?!"

"I have to assume so, since I can't imagine you being with some other woman."

Plastered on the cover of the tabloid magazine was a picture of Natsu and Lucy at the fair from the day before. Someone had caught a photo of the star with his cap pushed back and holding hands with the woman at his side. Lucy, thankfully, had her head down and her hat low so her features weren't visible.

"Oh shit," Natsu muttered, taking in the stupidly blissful grin on his own face and the bold, obnoxious text above it that declared '_Salamander and Lucy? Exclusive photos inside!'_

Evergreen rolled up the magazine with efficient twists of her hands. She paused for a dramatic moment and then promptly began smacking the pink head with the paper. "Ow!" Natsu cried, as much from surprise as pain, trying to deflect the repeated attacks with his hands.

"You. Are. An. Idiot!" Each word was punctuated by a thwap against his skull. "If they didn't get any new information, they would've forgotten about her! But now you've given them pictures, and it's going to be that much worse!"

The now very awake star scrambled to the other side of the bed to get away from the irate public relations agent. Happy had taken to the air by this point and was drifting around the room, not wanting to get caught up in the violent scene. "I didn't mean to! I didn't think anyone would recognize me with the hat and different clothes."

"It doesn't matter whether you meant to or not," Evergreen sniffed. She tossed the rumpled magazine onto the bed before turning away. "Those pictures are out there now, and you're going to have to deal with the fallout." Pausing in the doorway, she cast a serious look over her shoulder as she left. "Just hope that Lucy doesn't have to deal with it too."

Natsu gingerly picked up the bound pages and smoothed them out to take another look at the article promised by the exuberant cover. Landing, Happy hung over his shoulder to peer at the cause of the early morning ruckus. There were more photos inside, but none of them actually showed Lucy's face, and the few that came close were blurry. _Thank God_.

On the other hand, Natsu's love-drunk grin was evident in every single one.


	4. Let's Make a Deal

_**Author's Note:**_ _I kinda wanted to subtitle this one 'Natsu Cops a Feel' but that just seemed like it would get me into a trouble or something. That should tell you this is the chapter with the lime scented scene that I mentioned previously. If that sort of thing offends you, at least it's short. If you like that stuff, then I'm sorry it's not longer. I happen to be down with it too, but I can't write smut to save my life. It underwent 5 separate rewrites to even get to the point that I wasn't entirely embarrassed by how bad it was.  
><em>_I'm using the Earthland versions of Hughes, Sugarboy, and Coco from the Key of the Starry Sky arc. It just seemed to fit since they are, in fact, on a version of Earthland rather than Edolas. Plus, those three are just fun.  
><em>_It should be pretty evident I don't know that much about how large corporations actually function. I did try to do some research, but honestly, I'm just hoping that nothing seems too out of whack. Most of the events just fit with the story, so there ya go.  
><em>_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. If I did, we'd all be drowning in main pairing shipper feels all the time. The only things that are mine are the song Starlight and the annoying, unnamed reporter guy. Reporter guy is available for loan, but please don't steal the song.  
><em>_**Shout-out!: To my beta reader axlorg89.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 4: LET'S MAKE A DEAL <strong>

**July 19, X793**

"Thanks for tuning in to _Good Morning, Magnolia_! I'm your host, Mary Hughes," the purple haired woman announced. "We've got some great guests for our next segment - two homegrown musical superstars! 'Ice man' Gray Fullbuster and 'Black Steel' Gajeel Redfox are part of the megahit band, Fairy Tail. Thanks for coming in today!"

"Glad to be here," Gray said with his most charming smile. Gajeel simply grunted.

"You're just back from a whirlwind tour across the globe. Does it feel good to be home?"

Glancing at his glowering bandmate, Gray decided it would be best if he answered. No telling what might spew out of the other brunette's mouth at this point. "It sure does, Mary. Fairy Tail might go to a lot of interesting places, but there's no place like Magnolia." At least the bassist could fake feeling friendly when needed.

"I understand most of you were friends growing up, even with your different backgrounds."

"Uh, yeah. Friends might be pushing it in some cases," Gray said with a small laugh. "But we were all part of the same group. I think it helped us get through some tough spots -" He stopped short and stared at the oddly familiar shirt being held in front of his face by an irked Gajeel. "Gah! When did I..?!" Hastily, he doned and rebuttoned the clothing, ducking his head in embarrassment.

Raising an oddly shaped brow, Hughes commented, "You're pretty well known for stripping your clothes on stage. It seems like a very strange habit."

The bassist rubbed the back of his neck, chagrined. "Yeah, well, I picked it up from... family."

Mary deliberately focused on Gajeel who had been maintaining his silence, arms now crossed over his broad chest and slouched in the tall seats the studio put its guests in. "You've always had a reputation as a rebel, but I bet you have a bit of a soft side too, don't you?"

The heavily pierced brunette snorted. "Nope," he said, popping the 'p' at the end.

"Uh, oookay," the stymied host responded. "What made you get into music, then?"

Gajeel shrugged one shoulder, radiating disinterest. "Old man Makarov seemed to think it would help get me sorted out, and I guess I always kinda liked blues music. So I figured what the hell. Juvia had already hooked up with these jokers and didn't want me running around by myself or somethin'."

"Juvia Lockser was your childhood friend, right?" The drummer gave a short nod, but didn't elaborate. Mary smiled puckishly, turning her attention back to the other man. "It seems like you and she have some pretty good chemistry on stage, Gray."

The dark haired bassist looked up, startled. "Uh… Well…"

"Now that Erza and Jellal are confirmed to be engaged, is there any chance well see more romance between band members, hmm?"

"That's… um… you see…" Gray hedged desperately, ignoring the snickers coming from Gajeel and the intense burning in his face, all while plucking at the buttons on his shirt. "It's… complicated."

"I'll bet." The purple haired host leaned in conspiratorially. "Speaking of romance, maybe you two can answer a question that's been on everyone's minds lately…"

"Aww, shit," Gajeel muttered lowly and Gray stiffened, both anticipating the next words out of the woman's mouth.

"Who's Lucy?"

Clearing his throat and shifting in his seat, Gray tried to be nonchalant. He crossed his legs and leaned against the armrest in a way he hoped conveyed calm detachment. "That's not really a question for us, and I don't think Natsu is ready to talk about it."

"Oh, come on," Mary drawled. "I'm sure you can share something with your fans. Don't you think you owe them -"

"This is why I hate you god damned media hounds." Gajeel gripped the arms of his chair hard enough to make the wood creak. "Nobody has right to know about our personal lives, okay? You need to learn when to back the fuck off."

"It's just a question." Waving a hand, Hughes was determined not to be intimidated, though she did sit back to put some distance between herself and her angry guest. "Everyone is really curious what sort of girl could get the Salamander wrapped around her finger. We just want to know -"

Surging out of his chair with enough force to topple it, the studded brunette leaned into the TV host's face with viciously bared teeth. "And I don't care! All you people do is dig around and cause trouble."

Gray hooked his arms under his bulkier friend's in an attempt to drag him backwards. His shirt had been tossed over the back of his vacated chair, and his pants somehow flung off camera. "Don't do this! Erza will freak!" he hissed.

Unfazed, Gajeel had worked up a ferocious rage. "You don't give a shit who you hurt as long as you get a story to sell! You god damned, cocksu -"

A cheerful tune interrupted with the friendly looking _Good Morning, Magnolia_ logo. Under it were the words '_Technical difficulties: Please stand by_.'

Erza hit the pause button on her laptop, looking irritated. She stared hard at the two dark haired men in front of her. Gray was fidgeting and refusing to meet her gaze. Gajeel stared back belligerently, though his leg was bouncing to show his agitation. "Where do I even start?" she asked.

Hanging his head, Gray cringed. "Sorry, Erza."

"I'm not," Gajeel grumped, though he did finally break eye contact. As much as he hated to admit it, the stage manager scared him… just a little.

Standing next to the redhead, Evergreen heaved a sigh. She pulled her glasses off and cleaned them delicately with the hem of her expensive silk shirt. "At least it was Gajeel. People expect this kind of loutish behavior from him."

"I realize you were trying to protect Lucy, but this kind of… scene really only draws more attention to the issue." Erza pinched the bridge of her nose and grimaced briefly. "Gray."

"Yes, ma'am!" he squawked, sitting up straighter.

"You did the right thing by politely refusing to comment. There's no reason you have to answer every question thrown at you in an interview."

Blinking, the bassist slowly came to the realization he wasn't going to be beaten to a bloody pulp. The taste of relief was immediate and sweet. "Uh, yeah."

"Gajeel." Studying the combative drummer, she spoke slowly as if trying to feel her way through his mood. "I know you have your issues with the press after they found out about your relationship with Levy and caused her so many problems -"

"Damned parasites," he growled.

"But you need to work on keeping your cool when you deal with them. Don't let them get under your skin, or it'll just make things that much worse." The redhead looked from one man to the other. "I need to be able to count on everyone to keep this under control. I think you've both learned a lesson today."

When neither responded, Erza narrowed her eyes and dropped the pitch of her voice. "Haven't you?"

"Yes, ma'am!" came the prompt and simultaneous replies.

She nodded authoritatively. "Good. I know you both have other obligations today so you can -" The two men jumped from their chairs and were out the door like a fire was lit under them. "- go." Erza sighed. "This is getting out of hand, Evergreen."

The public relations agent shrugged. "It could be worse."

"Oh? How?"

Settling her glasses back on her face, the woman smiled grimly. "It could've been Natsu." Erza knew she couldn't disagree with that.

* * *

><p>"Did you really go out to dinner with that pig again?" Aquarius looked appalled, leaning against the huge, ornate desk. "Please tell me he didn't try to grope you."<p>

Lucy rubbed at her tired eyes. "I wish I could. He was clumsy about it, so he didn't get much of a handhold." At least she'd remembered to wear pants instead of a skirt this time. Though she'd still been able to feel his damp hand on her knee even through the thick fabric. The blonde shuddered.

"Someone needs to tell him that's not at all romantic." The spirit shook her head. "There's no way you can marry that gargoyle. His family is pulling your strings by threatening to take the company your father built, and you're just letting them make you dance." She leaned forward with a hand braced on the desktop. "Just give me five minutes alone -"

"I don't disagree with you," Lucy cut her off, knowing the aquatic spirit would make good on her gleeful threats. "And I have no intention of marrying him. I just needed to buy some time."

"To do what?"

The CEO licked her lips and glanced at Capricorn and Loke who were watching the conversation with interest. Lucy hadn't missed how relieved they both looked when she confirmed her disinterest in marrying Sawarr. "It's a bit risky, but I have a way to get some money. A good bit of money, in fact."

The goat spirit stroked the long hairs on his chin. "You don't have a lot of personal resources. Except -" He suddenly stiffened with a serious frown. "I'd highly advise against -"

"I know! I know it's an enormous risk. But if I sell my shares in the company, it would give me enough money to be my own investor." Lucy squeezed her fists, trying not to seem as desperate as she actually felt. "It's the only thing I have that's worth enough. We might be able to push the rail expansion forward or even put the money into another project."

"The Junelles now have 44 percent of the shares," Loke cautioned. "If they even bought just a small amount of what you sell, they'd have majority control. They could just steamroll the rest of the board."

Closing her eyes momentarily, Lucy breathed deeply to calm her nerves. "They've already convinced most of the shareholders not to trust my judgement. I'm not sure it's going to make anything worse. There's also a chance that we'll get lucky and whoever grabs the stocks will be willing to work with us."

Capricorn smiled faintly. "If anyone is going to be lucky, it's Miss Lucy. If this is your will, then we will help you." Loke nodded reluctantly, and Aquarius flipped her hand in a 'what can you do' motion.

She smiled, feeling relief all the way through her bones. "Thanks, guys. As long as I have you backing me up I know we'll pull through."

Aquarius shrugged but smirked in amusement. "You'd be lost without us." Her smug look turned positively salacious then. "If you want a more appealing way to sell yourself for funding, I heard that Natsu's got an impressive _net worth_." She leered and held her palms up facing each other, spread to indicate a considerable length.

Cheeks flaming at the insinuation, Lucy looked away and scowled. "I wouldn't know anything about that."

"And who's fault is that, hmm?" Aquarius placed a hand on her hip. "The word of the day is that you have him 'wrapped around your finger.'" The female spirit punctuated the phrase by making a spinning motion with her free index finger.

"Oh, God." The blond woman buried her face in her hands. After seeing _Good Morning, Magnolia's_ latest episode, Lucy had been sure she would die of embarrassment. Her spirit's words brought the feeling back with a vengeance. "It's not like that…"

"But it could be if you just loosen a few buttons on your top," Aquarius snickered. "That boy always did have an outrageous fascination with your breasts."

Groaning, Lucy laid her face against the cool wood surface of her desk and then hid her head with her arms. Deciding she'd had enough teasing, Capricorn held up a hand to stop his aquatic ally. "All that aside, we'd best make some preparations before we go through with this. I have a few ideas on how to distract the Junelles that don't involve our mistress having to expose parts of herself. With any luck it will delay them enough to let someone else get a chance to snap up those stocks."

Loke adjusted his glasses, expression determined. "Worst case scenario, we end up having to cut a new deal with the devil we know."

"No," Capricorn shook his horned head. "Worst case is we end up beholden to the devil we don't."

* * *

><p><strong>July 21, X793<strong>

Half sprawled on the table in front of him, Natsu idly poked at his smartphone. He pondered the wisdom of trying to call Lucy. Had she seen those tabloid photos of them yet? How much trouble was he in? At least she hadn't been naked in any of them. He was pretty sure that would've gotten him killed, by Erza if not Lucy.

He flicked a thumb casually up the screen, making the news headlines he'd been pretending to read fly by. Nearby, Erza and Laxus were having an arguement about new equipment for their cobbled together sound studio. Not satisfied with the woeful contract their current record label had offered as a renewal, Makarov had decided they would start producing their new album on their own. The big, blond sound engineer was irritated that a piece of equipment he'd asked for hadn't been purchased while the redhead seemed to think he was being unreasonable.

"Anything interesting?" Wendy asked as she peered over Natsu's arm at the small screen he held. She'd decided to avoid being drawn into the slowly escalating conflict across the room. Jellal was already edging towards the door while Levy had escaped earlier with an excuse. Carla, for her part, was looking aggravated by Happy's latest attempt to woo her with fish.

"Nah," Natsu said, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. "It's just a bunch of boring stuff. Nothin' that has anything to do with -"

"Hey, what's that?" Wendy pointed to one of the news items, reading it aloud. "Stock prices tumble amid rumors of a Heartfilia Konzern and Railways shakeup. What does that mean?"

Natsu shook his head, frowning. "I dunno, but it doesn't sound too good."

Across from them, Bixlow's worn boots made a deep thunk as they settled on the tabletop. "Probably means that your girl is in the hotseat." The pyrotechnician leaned his chair back far enough to put the front legs in the air. "If the board of directors votes on it, she could still get the boot during a shakeup."

"What would you know about it?" Natsu asked, sitting up straight.

Putting his hands behind his head, Bixlow grimaced. "I read the business section when I'm bored. HK&R's stocks are getting pretty cheap. It might be smart for your little chickie to bail out of that place while she's still able to make some dough from it anyway."

Natsu looked suddenly thoughtful and turned to face the band's lawyer and financial planner who was poking away at her calculator in response to something Erza had mentioned. "Hey, Laki. How much money do I have?"

Her violet head whipped around to look at the rock star. "You've never asked me that before. Why do you want to know?" Suspicion was written on her face.

Wendy smiled, starting to catch on. "Are you thinking of buying stock in Lucy's company to help her?"

"Maybe. It couldn't hurt, right?" he asked.

Laki tapped a finger against her lips. "Well, I've invested a lot of your resources in other stock, but you could sell that for a tidy profit… Combined with your liquid assets, you've got quite a bit of capital to go around."

Natsu's face brightened considerably. "Great! I never do anything with that money anyway. People give me free food all the time, so I don't have to buy much."

The violet haired woman shrugged. "Let me make a call on the telephone…"

"How much do you think I can buy?" Natsu wondered while she started conversing with someone over her cell. "I hope it's enough to help."

Wendy patted him on the arm assuringly. "I'm sure anything you can do would make Lucy happy. You're a really good friend, and I bet she'll really appreciate it."

"Um…" Laki's tentative voice carried over to the table. She laid her cellphone against her chest to cut off sound from being picked up. "Natsu… Exactly how many shares did you want to buy in the company?"

"As many as I can," he replied, cocking his spiked, pink head at her odd inflection.

"Er… Are you sure?"

Natsu frowned, but gave a sharp nod. "Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't." Laxus and Erza ceased their bickering to watch what was happening, and Jellal had fled the room a few minutes earlier.

"Oookay," Laki replied and spoke a confirmation into the speaker of her phone. She waited a moment, listening to a response, before looking up to meet Natsu's questioning stare. "Congratulations. You've just bought yourself controlling interest in Heartfilia Konzern and Railways."

Dead silence lay over the room like a sodden blanket before it was ruptured by Natsu's exclamation. "What?!"

Bixlow cackled, shaking his chair in mirth. "Nice job, loverboy! Now you're Lucy's boss!" Laxus slapped one of his palms to his forehead, and Erza raised a judicious eyebrow.

Expression blank, Natsu blinked repeatedly. "Uh. What am I supposed to do now?" Dread quickly flooded his features. "Lucy's going to freak if she finds out! This wasn't supposed to be a big deal! Can we keep this a secret?!"

Laki tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think we can keep your name out of it, but you do own the controlling percentage of shares. You'll get a pretty weighty vote on any major decisions their board makes."

"Phew." Natsu swept the back of his hand over his forehead. "As long as she doesn't know, she'll have no reason to kick me in the head. I guess I'll figure the rest out as I go." His grin was sudden and bright. "That usually works for me."

"Do you _ever_ think anything through beforehand?" Bixlow asked.

The rosy haired rocker shrugged. "Sometimes, but it usually just slows me down."

"Of course it does." Laxus rolled his eyes. Even if the larger man was used to the Salamander's haphazard way of doing things, it still made him antsy at times. "You sure it's a good idea to keep all this a secret? If she finds out, and you didn't tell her…"

"Nah. It'll be fine!" Natsu's laugh was untroubled, and he slouched in his chair again. "What could go wrong?"

Everyone else in the room exchanged a meaningful look over the spiky head.

* * *

><p><strong>July 22, X793<strong>

"And you're just fine with this? With not knowing?" Loke held the door for his smaller employer. She slipped past him, headed towards the elevator that lead to the CEO's penthouse. Though she'd lived there for years now thanks to her father's position, the luxurious home was technically owned by the company.

"Everything worked out more or less as we hoped. Whoever bought those shares snapped up all of them before the Junelles got a chance." Lucy was smiling despite the dark smudges of exhaustion under her eyes. "Now I've got the funds I needed, so we can start planning where to invest them."

Punching the up button with a bit more force than necessary, Loke blew a frustrated breath out. "It makes me nervous. What's this person like? How're they going to vote on the projects? We don't even know their name!"

Lucy patted his arm comfortingly. "Don't let it get to you. Let's try to look at this as a fresh start, alright? Maybe the winds are starting to blow in our favor."

The stainless steel doors slid open, letting out a pair of Lucy's fellow wealthy building tenants. She nodded politely in greeting before stepping in to replace them and tapping the button for the fortieth floor. Loke stood tall beside her as the elevator began to rise. "With the way things have been going, it would be nice to catch a break," the lion spirit said. "The board of directors is still on our case about the stock prices. Even so, I hope you don't mind if I do a bit of investigating."

Brows furrowing, Lucy glanced at him and noted the tense line of black clad shoulders. "If it bothers you that much, then I won't stop you. Just try not to rile this guy - or girl - up. They might want to stay anonymous and getting on their bad side would be disastrous for us."

He smirked, corner of his mouth twitching up. "I can be discreet when it's called for. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Well, nothing other than a pack of angry investors, a greedy board of directors, and scandal hungry journalists," Lucy huffed. She started forward as soon as the elevator doors opened, but slowed her steps when she spotted Virgo standing outside the penthouse entrance. "Is something wrong?"

"No, princess," the maiden spirit said in her customary flat intonation. She simply stepped aside and opened the door. Lucy frowned at the fact she gave no further explanation, but went inside anyway.

When neither spirit followed her in, the blonde's frown turned down even further. "Okay. What's up with you two?"

"We would like to request the evening off," Virgo declared.

Loke looked puzzled at her announcement. "We would?"

"Yes, we would," the pink haired spirit stated with a blank, but pointed, stare at her feline aspected colleague. "You may punish us if you like, princess."

"Hey, now! I'm not as into that as you are." Loke held up his hands defensively. "But I sure wouldn't mind the free time."

Skeptical, Lucy studied the two for a long moment. Eventually, she clucked her tongue and said, "Fine. You two have a good night, then. Whatever you're up to." Virgo promptly shut the front door in her face without another word.

Shaking her head, Lucy sighed. "Like that's not suspicious."

Deciding that it really wasn't worth any added stress to dissect the spirits' motives, Lucy tossed her handbag on the console table in the entryway. She kicked off her practical pumps and stretched languidly. Padding into the kitchen, the blonde noticed Virgo had made two plates of dinner, though one was now empty of food.

And popcorn. Lucy frowned at the giant bowl of buttered popcorn on the kitchen's great marble island. Making her way over, she planted her fists on her hips. What the heck was Virgo up to? This was just weird. _Not that I don't like popcorn, but..._

"I already ate. That one's yours." The unexpected and decidedly masculine voice right next to her ear made Lucy let out a high pitched shriek. She spun around and swung her fist out with every ounce of strength she had. Natsu easily caught her wrist before the punch connected with his face, raising an eyebrow. "Jeez, Luce, take it easy."

Drawing in great lungfuls of air to feed her racing heart, Lucy glared. "Take it easy?! You scared the crap out of me! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Virgo let me in. She thought it'd be fun if I surprised you!"

Exasperated, the woman gently tugged on her wrist until Natsu finally released it from his grip. "Of course she did. No wonder those two took off," she huffed grumpily.

"It _was_ pretty funny. The way you yelled." Natsu chuckled and reached past his cranky friend to grab a handful of popcorn to stuff in his face. "You should eat. Virgo's a really good cook."

Lucy started to reprimand him for talking with his mouth full but threw up her hands instead. What was the point? He'd just keep doing it anyway. She started consuming her own plate of food rather than deal with the futility of reminding Natsu of his manners.

He was right, of course. Virgo was an excellent cook.

The two bantered while Lucy finished, Natsu going over how he had accidentally set part of the stage on fire during his appearance at a music education fundraiser earlier that day. "It was totally crazy. The adults all flipped out even though Gray had it under control with the fire extinguisher in no time. The kids loved it."

Smiling indulgently, Lucy set the empty plates in the sink with a mental promise to take care of them later. "I'm sure they did."

"You done? Great!" The rockstar snatched up the gargantuan bowl of popcorn he'd been idly snacking on and headed into the living room. "C'mon."

Curious, and maybe a little nervous, the woman followed. "Not that I'm unhappy to have you visit, but… Seriously." Lucy watched Natsu as he flopped down on her very comfortable couch and put his feet up on the glass topped coffee table. "What _are_ you doing?"

Remote control in one hand, popcorn in his lap, Natsu patted the cushion next to him in invitation. "Movie night, duh. We're gonna watch _Dragonheart_."

_Lucy! We gotta see this movie! It's got a dragon in it!_

Defeated, Lucy dropped into the seat next to him as he used the remote to start the film. "You and your dragons… I haven't seen this in forever. We used to watch it all the time." She tugged the bowl of fragrant kernels closer. "Don't hog the popcorn." Natsu just grinned hugely at her.

The two traded comments about the movie for a while, falling into a familiar pattern. Lucy tried not to think too hard about just how easy it was to forget the length of time they'd been apart. She still smiled when he crowed at the action scenes, booed the bad guys, and tried to pretend he wasn't sniffling at the sad parts. Eventually, they fell into an equally easy silence.

By the time they reached the credits, Lucy was clutching a box of tissues, knees drawn up in front of her. With a trembling lip, she dabbed at her eyes before she turned to look at Natsu. His head was tipped all the way back, mouth slack and eyes closed with his arms spread along the top of the couch. _He must've been exhausted not to stay awake through the whole thing._

Unfolding herself, Lucy gently plucked the remote from his lax grasp, switching off the TV and transferring the empty popcorn bowl from his lap to the coffee table. She allowed herself one last great sniff to be rid of the mucus that had come with her tears.

Finding herself smiling again, the blonde pulled a blanket that had been artfully thrown over an armchair and laid it gently over the sleeping man. She had no heart to wake him and couldn't seem to stop the fond glance back she gave him as she headed off to bed.

* * *

><p><strong>July 23, X793<strong>

Dimly, Lucy began to register the sensation of heat. Oppressive, all consuming heat. Had the central air gone out? She would have to call someone about that…

Uncomfortable, she shifted, trying to roll over. Which was when the woman started to realize she could barely breathe due to a limp and substantial weight laying across her back and shoulders, squashing her face first into the mattress. Her left arm was trapped under her body, and she could feel the dreadful pins and needles sensation from the lack of circulation. _What the heck…?_

A murmur and humid exhalation against her ear snapped Lucy into brutal wakefulness. Her eyes popped open, and she noticed a number of things at once. Natsu was sprawled all over her, legs tangled in hers and the sheets. His arms were wrapped securely around her waist to keep her back flush against his chest, lips grazing the edge of her ear with every breath. Worst, his impossibly warm, strong hands were laying flat on her exposed ribcage where her tank top had ridden up in the night.

Eye twitching in supreme irritation, Lucy tried to use her shoulder to nudge her bed companion awake. "Natsu… Natsu, you're crushing me." He mumbled something incoherent and nuzzled his nose into the crock of her neck, inhaling deeply. Lucy squeaked when she felt his hands slide upwards until they cupped her full breasts, pushing her top along with them.

"Hmmmm…." the Salamander purred, voice thick and heated. "Soooooft…"

Her face instantly felt like the surface of the sun, and Lucy tried to calm her frantically pounding heart. The force of it was making her chest ache and her breathing shallow. "Natsu, wake up…"

The only response was a low groan as he tugged her even closer, tongue darting out to taste the salt on her flesh from the thin sheen of sweat that broke out over her skin. She gasped in shock, movements frozen solid, when callused thumbs swept across her pebbled nipples. His hot fingers began squeezing rhythmically, massaging her weighty bosom.

Was he still asleep? Did he know what he was doing? Did he know what he was doing to _her_?

"Ngggg," he groaned, and Lucy could feel the vibrations straight through her torso. "Feels… good… Lucy…" He slipped one muscular thigh between hers, sending the fabric of her shorts sliding along her core with exquisite friction. Natsu opened his scorching wet mouth against her neck to gently graze sharp teeth against her skin. The electric thrill that buzzed straight to her groin made Lucy's head spin.

But it was the extremely prominent arousal probing against her lower back as his hips rocked forward that finally shorted out what was left of Lucy's higher brain functions. The rose haired man repeated the roll of his pelvis more insistently, dragging his heavy, hot length against her through the cloth separating them. "Hnnnn…" he moaned.

Panic spiked in place of reason, and she brought her elbow back sharply into his solid abdomen. Natsu snorted, eyes snapping open without an ounce of actual awareness. He flailed and tumbled backwards off the bed with a heavy thud.

The rock star rubbed the back of his tousled head and blinked blearily up at her. "Owwww. Geez, Lucy. Why you gotta be so violent?"

Ignoring his adorable pout and sleep husky voice, she rose up on her knees to glare down at him. Even while hastily tugging down her shirt, Lucy looked positively imperious. "What the hell are you doing in my bed?! You can't just do that! It's not appropriate!"

Natsu muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "And it was a really good dream, too…" The furious blonde inhaled deeply, all set to yell, but stopped when he rolled neatly to his feet. "Man, this brings back memories, huh?"

She frowned, not liking where her thoughts went at the phrase. "Natsu… Wait. Where are your pants?" As deliciously toned as his legs were, she couldn't help but notice he was dressed only in a pair of flame printed boxers and a white cotton undershirt.

Grinning, he reached over to the chair she kept in her room and snatched up his discarded jeans from the night before, stepping into them smoothly. "Don't worry. I'm not like Stripper. I pay attention to where I leave my clothes."

Lucy shook her head to clear out the entirely improper thoughts that sent blood descending from her head to her lower body. "Still, you can't just crawl into bed with someone like that."

Looking up from where he was buttoning his pants, Natsu said, "I don't want to crawl into bed with other people. Just you."

Her face ignited, and she hid her embarrassment behind a cough. _He can't mean it like that._ "M-My point still stands. That's not something you do with people you are just friends with."

Natsu paused in pulling on his shirt, A frown twisting his lips and furrowing his brow. He opened his mouth, but found his thoughts weren't collected enough to come out. With a full body shake, the star finished getting dressed and forced a wide grin onto his face. "You used to say all that before. This is just like old times, right? Like nothing's changed at all."

The high color drained from Lucy's face, and she abruptly lurched to get off the bed. Natsu was surprised, but followed as she padded out of the room on bare feet. "I think you should go," she said quietly.

"Uh, hey. Don't I get breakfast?" he laughed uncertainly, having stopped briefly to stomp his feet into his shoes.

Her head was down, golden hair hanging like a curtain and fingers curling as if they wanted to form fists. Natsu hated it when Lucy hid her face from him. How was he supposed to know what she was thinking if he couldn't see her expression? "I… I have to get to work soon."

"But it's Saturday! Don't you get the day off?" he reasoned, frustration mounting.

"There's a ton of work to do."

Gritting his teeth, Natsu halted near the front door and wound his treasured scarf around his neck. "Okay, okay. But maybe we can have dinner?"

She shook her head, not letting him see how she bit her lip. "I can't…"

"You can't," he repeated, voice clipped and annoyance barely leashed. "Right. And next weekend? You busy then too? And the week after that?"

"Please don't," Lucy begged. She looked up at him then, eyes full of a sadness that sucked the anger right out of him. "I'm… sorry."

Natsu shook his head, giving her a genuine, if weary smile. "Don't be. I know you're going through a lot right now. I didn't really mean to push." He reached out and brushed fingertips against her cheek. She stiffened, but the motion was over before she could react. "Just try to cheer up, okay? I bet things are going to get better for you soon."

Lucy favored him with a fragile smile of her own, holding the door as he stepped out into the hall. The rosy haired man set the now familiar ball cap on his head and summoned up an ear to ear grin. "You know I can't stand to see you sad, Lucy. We'll catch up when we can."

He waved then as he turned, heading towards the elevator with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Closing the door quietly, Lucy spun so her back was against the wood and slid down to the floor as her quaking legs gave up entirely. She covered her head with her hands and pressed her face against her forearms.

"Why…? Why does it have to feel like this…?" the woman croaked. "I don't know what to do. Please, tell me what to do…"

The silence that answered her felt crushing.

* * *

><p>"You're sure?" Loke asked, voice laden with skepticism. "There's not a mistake here?"<p>

Gemi and Mini gave him twin nods.

"Not a doubt, Leo! We triple checked. I bet Lucy will be happy!" Gemi piped up.

The lion sucked in a sharp breath. "I don't think we should tell her."

Mini cocked her head, radiating puzzlement. "Why? He's her friend. Wouldn't she be pleased that he's the one who -"

"It's complicated." Loke rubbed at one of his eyes, knocking his glasses cockeyed. Though spirits didn't need to truly sleep, his lack of rest last night was starting to show. "I think she'll work out her feelings eventually, but until then we need to keep this quiet. Not to mention the fact that the tabloids would be all over this if word got out."

The twins glanced at one another, obviously unsure. "You're the boss," they both responded in deference to his leadership role in the Zodiac.

"I just hope you know what you're doing," Gemi put in.

The leonine spirit looked more than a little uncertain. He could think of a dozen ways this decision might blow up in his face. Worse, it might end up causing Lucy even more pain, and that was the very last thing he wanted. He simply replied, "So do I…"


	5. Poker Faces

_**Author's Notes:**_ _Elfheim143 astutely mentioned Jason from Sorcerer Weekly way back when they reviewed the first chapter. He was, in fact, my first choice for the reporter with the really hideous shirt, but I think this chapter will tell you why I didn't end up using him. Jason's a bit flakey, but seems to be a nice guy. Bad-shirt dude, on the other hand, is… not so nice.  
><em>_This chapter also starts to dig into the lingering issues between our fair protagonists. Hopefully I haven't dragged this out too far.  
><em>_Writing Aquarius' innuendo was really fun. It just seemed to fit since she's always bugging Lucy about not having a guy in her life, and if Lucy ever 'sort of' had a man Aquarius might try to shove her in the right direction (through wildly inappropriate comments, apparently). Hopefully it doesn't seem out of character.  
><em>_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. If I did, we'd all be drowning in main pairing shipper feels all the time. The only things that are mine are the song Starlight and the annoying, unnamed reporter guy. Reporter guy is available for loan, but please don't steal the song.  
><em>_**Shout-out!: To my beta reader axlorg89.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 5: POKER FACES<strong>

**August 2, X793**

"I just want to thank you again for doing this interview. It's a real honor!" Coco reached across to adjust the audio recorder again where it sat on the small round table in front of her. The girl was obviously nervous.

"Don't mention it," Cana said breezily. "Just do me a favor and don't shout while we do this, 'kay?" She massaged her temples and yawned hugely.

The journalist sat up with a concerned look. "Oh, are you feeling alright? We could reschedule if you need to."

Mirajane hid her smile behind a fine boned hand. "Don't worry about Cana. She's just got a bit of a self inflicted headache. She'll be fine. Besides, we promised, and everyone in Fairy Tail is a big fan of your music journal."

"Really?" Coco managed to look both bashful and proud at the same time. "That's so great to hear. I'll try to keep my voice down." Smiling she flipped open her notebook and read the first question. "Mirajane, I understand that you and your siblings were orphaned at a young age. Has music played a part in helping you stay and grow together?"

"Hmmm. I would say so," she nodded. "I started singing in the elementary school choir and Lisanna picked up an instrument as soon as she was old enough to take lessons. Elfman… Well, he's not really very musically inclined," the eldest Strauss chuckled. "But he's always helped out in other ways. It was really hard when we were on our own, but music gave us something we could do as a family."

"It's so nice that you can all have that together," Coco's smile looked almost watery for a second before she cleared her throat. "Would you mind me asking where you got the nickname 'she-devil'? You just seem so nice!"

Laughing, Mirajane said, "Oh dear! I think it has more to do with my unruly youth. I'm afraid I was a bit of a terror in those days."

"Ah, that makes more sense. Cana, do you think you inherited any of your talent from your family?"

"Oh, God, no!" the brunette barked out a laugh and then winced at her own volume. "Mom couldn't hold a tune, and Gildarts sounds like a dying buffalo. He's pretty much tone deaf."

Cocking her head, the journalist asked, "Does he work with the band to be closer to you? You two only really learned about each other a few years ago according to what I know."

"Well, uh, I guess so… He's always trying to make me do shi- er, stuff with him. It can be a pain, but… I guess it's nice to know he's there when I need him." Cana shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with revealing her personal feelings. "It's still better than when we didn't know each other."

"That really is wonderful." Coco nodded, making a note on her pad. "You also started a business together, and your artisan liquors have really taken off in popularity. Do you enjoy being an entrepreneur?"

Shrugging, the backup singer answered, "Eh. The extra dough is nice. But mostly I just like the product we make." She grinned cheekily. "I wouldn't support it if I wouldn't drink it."

"Here's one for both of you! What's the most important thing about being in Fairy Tail to you?"

Humming, Mira tipped her head from side to side as she thought for a moment, chin between her index finger and thumb. "Well, I guess I'd say the friendships I've made. It means so much to me to find a place where my siblings and I can fit in. Fairy Tail is more like family than anything. Even after all the bright lights and applause have faded, we still have each other."

Sighing, Cana leaned her forearms on her thighs. "See? I should've gone first. Anything I say after that is just going to sound bad. But I guess I like getting to go all kinds of places and meet people. It's a lot of fun to put on a good show and make them cheer."

"I think that's a great answer!" Coco said supportively. She glanced down at her notebook to reference the next question and chewed the inside of her cheek dubiously. "Um… This next one… It's not really… My editor wrote this down, but you don't have to answer it."

Mirajane smiled reassuringly. "You don't need to be concerned. I promise that we've gotten all sorts of really awful personal questions in the past, so this can't be anything worse."

Taking a deep breath the journalist rushed out the query, "We were really hoping you could tell us who Lucy is…"

The other two women exchanged a look wavering between amusement and exasperation. They'd been expecting it. "Wellll," Mira stalled, "That's a bit complicated…"

Cana raised a hand to take over, feeling confident despite her pounding head. "It's not the big deal everyone is making out of it. She's just… an old friend of his. Nothing more. It's pretty disappointing, but that's the best answer anyone can give you."

The chair next to her creaked as her white haired bandmate leaned back, frowning slightly. Mira decided the best thing to do was not contradict the hungover brunette. "Yes, I'm sure it's not as exciting as everyone hoped."

"An old friend," Coco confirmed. "Well, I think that's very sweet. And hopefully it will mean everyone can stop bothering you all about it. Now, my next question is…"

Later, as Cana slumped over the communal table back at the hotel suite nursing a beer, she muttered, "An old friend. It sure sounded good in my head."

"Well," Mira rubbed her back sympathetically. "It might work out. An old friend isn't as interesting as an old flame, after all. And getting an answer of some kind might shut them up for a while."

"Ugh. True. I just hope…" Cana sat up, taking a greedy pull from the bottle in her hand before continuing. "I mean, I don't think it's likely.. but if someone got it into their head, it wouldn't be really hard to dig into Natsu's past. He practically spent every waking hour with Lucy during high school."

The She-Devil sighed, knowing her friend was right. "Still, that was a long time ago, and they'd have to get into old records. What kind of person would be desperate enough to dig that deep?"

"Some sleaze-ball, muckraking reporter," Cana answered her.

"Er… I guess it's possible… But Coco works for a legitimate music journal. I think we're safe." Mira paused before adding, "I hope."

* * *

><p>"They couldn't have picked a better spot," Aquarius snickered, arms crossed under her abundant bosom.<p>

"It does seem rather well placed," Loke chimed in even as he tried to smother a smile behind his hand. It only made his words come out slightly muffled.

Lucy glowered out of the enormous picture window in her office, leaning back into her leather chair. The brightly colored banner advertising Fairy Tail's upcoming charity concert rippled down the side of the opposite skyscraper. "Does it have to be so… big?"

"Heh. I bet that's not what you said when Natsu stayed over at your place that night." Aquarius looked positively lecherous, making Lucy gasp in surprise and embarrassment. Letting out a brief burst of a laugh, Loke hastily turned away. His eyes were watering from suppressing his mirth.

"For your information, absolutely nothing happened!" Lucy spun her chair back around and cursed when she banged her shin against the desk in her rush. "Nothing at all!"

The blue haired female spirit kept grinning. "And that doesn't sound like you're protesting too much at all."

Capricorn cleared his throat to summon everyone's attention to himself. "As entertaining as I'm sure you're finding this, there are more pressing matters. I heard back about the director's latest vote."

Lucy sat up straight from where she had been rubbing at her bruised leg. "You mean the one where they were deciding whether to fire me or not?" Her mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "It sure would be nice to walk into a board meeting and not have everyone question my intelligence or call me 'little girl.'" _At least it's helping me grow a thick skin. _She refused to let those greedy old bastards see her cry. Maybe if they hadn't always attributed her past successes to her father, they wouldn't be so disinclined to trust her judgement now.

Tilting his head in reluctant affirmation, the goat spirit said, "Yes, but there is good news. Whoever our mystery shareholder is apparently voted in your favor."

Sighing in relief, the blond CEO visibly relaxed. "Guess I can keep calling myself 'Lucky Lucy' for another day."

"I think it's too soon to let down our guard. We have no idea how long this… person will be willing to let things stand as they are. And some faceless representative isn't going to sway the opinions of the rest of the board the way Junelle does." Capricorn stroked his beard, missing the way Loke averted his gaze with a knowing smile.

Lucy nodded, determination pulling her features into a grim set. "I know. That's why I think we need to be willing to make a big gamble on something new to get the company going again."

"You've got something in mind?" Loke asked, interest piqued.

"Uh. Sort of..." The woman drew the last word out to indicate her hesitance.

"We can't afford to delay, I'm afraid," Capricorn warned. He hated to push his employer any harder than she already pushed herself, but things were getting desperate.

Turning her head to look out the window over her shoulder, Lucy gnawed on her lip. "Um. I might have _one_ idea, but…"

"Out with it," Aquarius ordered. "Even if it's stupid, at least it's an idea."

"Well," Lucy started, "I was going through the company's detailed asset list, and I noticed there's one branch that hasn't really had any investments in a long time. Actually, it's been pretty well neglected since Mom died."

"Go on," the goat spirit prompted when their boss paused.

She slowly stood, licking her lips, and then turned to face the window again. "Music is pretty big business in Magnolia, and _Heartfilia Music_ used to be an important part of that." She raised her hand to point at the garish banner that had been the focus of their attention previously. "I think we should resurrect it."

The three spirits looked to one another, intrigued. "Huh. That's actually a lot better than what I thought you'd come up with," Aquarius conceded.

Loke nodded decisively. "I think it's worth a roll of the dice. We still have a few good names signed to the label, and with a decent influx of cash and advertising I bet we could get more." He angled his head towards the window. "Maybe one in particular."

"Ah, yes!" Aquarius brightened. "I had heard that their contract with their current record label was almost up. It wouldn't be hard for us to start courting them." She grinned slyly. "You've already got an in with them anyway."

_You can do it, Lucy! I'll be right beside you - always._

"I…" Lucy swallowed thickly. _Could I…? No… It's just been too long… It wouldn't be right to ask now._ "I think that might be setting the bar a bit high right out of the gate. Why don't we start with Lamia Scale or Blue Pegasus?"

The water spirit pulled a sour face. "Seriously? Ugh. If that's what you want to do." Aquarius waved her hand disdainfully.

"It's a solid place to start," Capricorn said. "I can get started on the preparations. Make a list of what we'll need to do and an estimate of how much money we'll need to do it."

Loke studied Lucy's jittery expression with a sigh. He was honestly disappointed she was still afraid to ask for help, but there was nothing to be done about it right now. "We still need to get the board to sign off on the shift in resources this is going to take. Your money alone won't be enough."

"Yeah," the blonde acknowledged, posture sagging. She suddenly looked drained and apprehensive. "I don't really have a lot of confidence that they'll even go for it. We don't exactly have any allies right now… We might _have_ to go it alone."

Shaking his head, the leonine spirit disagreed. "We've got more than you think, Lucy. You just… need to hold out your hand to them."

He was a bit startled when the woman spun away, hiding her eyes with her hand in a brief, shaky gesture. "I… don't think it's a good idea. You can't always count on someone to be there even if they say they will. It's not wise to depend on anyone else for something so critical."

Loke was silent for a moment, face grim. "... Alright. We'll do it your way. There's plenty of work to do regardless." He turned to Capricorn and Aquarius, giving them each a tight nod. "Let's get started building an ironclad presentation. We'll show them that this is their best shot at making the company lucrative again."

"Right," Aquarius said, smile fierce. "Make them feel like fools for even thinking of refusing. It'll be just like that thing with the high speed rail when she had investors fighting over who would be the first to give us their money."

The goat agreed. "We shall convince them this deserves their full support. We will not fail."

The leader of the zodiac allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk, but let it slip when he turned to catch Lucy's reaction. Instead of the determination he had hoped to see, she stared listlessly at the gently fluttering Fairy Tail banner. He had rarely seen her so uncertain… or so alone.

* * *

><p>Lucy plodded down the flight of stairs to the fifth floor of the HK&amp;R building. She carried her high heeled shoes in her hand, looking exhausted and utterly disgusted. "Seriously? The elevators just freakin' broke down?"<p>

Behind her, Loke sighed. "It's been a pretty brutal day, I'll give you that."

"I guess it is what it is. They better have this fixed by tomorrow, though. It just looks bad not to have working elevators in a building this size," the woman groused.

Finally making it to the ground floor, Lucy groaned and wiggled her toes. She almost didn't want to put her shoes back on after that workout but going home barefoot wasn't an option. Stepping carefully back into her heels, she smiled gratefully at Loke when he held open the fire door that led out of the stairwell.

At this time of evening, the lobby was entirely empty other than two security guards. The men both grinned brightly when they saw her. "Hi, Miss Lucy! Stayed late again?" one said while the other piped up with, "Bad news about the elevators. You be careful now."

"Thanks, guys!" Lucy mustered up a warm smile for them. It wouldn't be fair not to, no matter how she felt. They always wished her well on her way home from work. "Have a good night!"

Exiting out into the stuffy garage, the young woman stopped short when she saw Sagittarius looking antsy next to the dark company car. Behind her Loke raised a questioning brow to the archer. "Uh, bad news, M'lady. It seems the car may be in need of some repairs," Sagittarius said with a hasty salute.

"Are you serious?!" Lucy groaned in frustration. She barely restrained herself from tossing her handbag on the ground, but resisted the childish act with gritted teeth. _This day just keeps getting better._

The horse costumed spirit flinched and shifted from foot to foot. Loke frowned, locking gazes with his fellow zodiac member. The two stared, one with an intense questioning look and the other seemly attempting to communicate something to his superior by force of will alone. "I'm terribly sorry, M'lady. Please forgive me…"

"No, no, please don't apologize." Lucy was oblivious to their silent exchange, grinding the heel of her hand into her eye socket in frustration and weariness. "It's not your fault. These things happen. I can just take the bus."

"Or I can give you a lift."

Lucy stumbled as she wrenched around at the sound of the familiar voice. Tipping forward, she ended up mashed against Natsu's sturdy chest. "Wha…?" the woman blurted.

"Easy there!" The star gently righted her, letting his searing hands linger on her upper arms. "No need to be in that much of a hurry. I'm not leaving without you."

Blushing brightly, Lucy couldn't help but think how his thousand-watt smile seemed to chase her exhaustion to the farthest corners of her being. "That's… I… What are you…?"

Sagittarius caught Loke's eye again and inclined his head slightly towards the two with a soft smile. "Ah," was all the lion could say. Somehow he doubted that the car was really going to need any work to get it going again. The boy could be persuasive when he wanted to.

"Don't worry, Horse-guy, Loke. I'll make sure she gets home safe." Natsu gave them both a thumbs up before seizing Lucy's hand and tugging her after him.

"H-Hey! I didn't agree to this!" the woman protested as they came closer to a rather battered looking motorcycle. "You can't just make decisions for me."

He laughed, finally letting go of her hand to pick up a helmet from the back of the bike. It had a bright, fire breathing dragon painted on the side. "Nah, if you didn't want to come, you would've hit me." He tossed the helmet to her, making Lucy scrabble to catch it before it hit the ground. "This'll be fun. I'll take you to dinner! My treat, this time."

Natsu then jammed his own flame designed helmet over his spiky locks before mounting the motorcycle. It started with an impressive growl. "C'mon, Luce. Let's ride!"

The blonde sighed and tentatively put on her borrowed headgear before joining him on the bike. "You better take me some place nice. This has been one hell of a day." She wrapped her arms around his middle, refusing to revel in the insanely toned abs she could feel under his shirt.

"Hey, like I'd take you just anyplace? You can hold on tighter than that." He put his hands over hers and tugged them. "There ya go. No good if you fall off."

Blushing furiously, she found herself nearly flat against his back. Lucy could feel his radiating body heat all down her front. Right down to her - _No. NO. Keep it together, girl._

She was pulled out of her less than pure thoughts when they suddenly lurched forward and sped out of the garage. Clutching him close, the blonde tried not to mind the way he languorously weaved in and out of traffic, muscles bunching and shifting as he directed the motorcycle.

It wasn't until they began to slow down later that she noticed the familiar surroundings. "Hey, this is…" They pulled to a stop outside a brightly lit restaurant. The huge, neon lit letters across the top spelled 'Magnolia Diner,' though the 'g' was dark. _They still haven't fixed that?_

Natsu dismounted and secured his helmet before giving her a hand down off the bike and taking her headgear. "Told ya I'd take you someplace nice. Best fries in the city."

_I know you don't like eating that fancy food all the time. Let's go some place fun!_

Lucy hesitated, staring up at the building. Then she cast a heart-stopping smile at him over her shoulder. "I seem to remember it being their shakes that were the best. I'm starved!"

Heading inside and taking a seat at one of the worn booths, the two deliberated on their order. Natsu complained that 'one-of-everything' was a legitimate choice, but the blonde managed to talk him into a more civilized amount of food. Their meals arrived quickly, and the Salamander paused to practically stick his nose into his french fries. His eyes flickered close in bliss, and Lucy laughed delightedly at the fuss he made.

They bantered back and forth while feasting, but Natsu seemed to miss how her joy dimmed each time he brought up some piece of their past. "And then Erza socked him one, right in the face! It was exactly like that time we were doing the play in high school, and that senior mouthed off to her. Remember that?" he snickered, enjoying the memory.

"Yeah, I remember. She… hasn't changed much, has she?" Lucy listlessly stirred the remainder of her chocolate milkshake with the straw.

"Nope! Pretty sure she'll be like that till the day she dies. Not sure how Jellal handles it. Erza's pretty stubborn." Stuffing the last few french fries from his plate into his mouth, the frontman chewed noisily. "Nobody's really changed. Well, we're older, sure. And I guess we've all grown too, but everybody's still themselves."

The young CEO sucked down the last of her sweet drink before starting to slowly turn the empty glass between her hands for a moment. Her smile had died down to the barest upturn of her lips, and she traced her index finger up the side of the plastic cup through the condensation that beaded on it. "It's… It's good that they haven't forgotten who they are. I've heard it can be tough when you're so famous."

"Nah! That'll never happen to Fairy Tail. If we start to forget, we have each other to remind us." He grinned at her, seemingly oblivious to the waning good mood. "We'll always help each other out." The woman flinched and tried to cover it by ducking her head.

When no response came, Natsu cleared his throat. _Just ask her! Cowboy up, man._ "So… I was thinking… It's been fun hanging out together, right?"

Lucy's head came back up, and she studied his face. "... Yeah, it has."

"So… The thing is… I was thinking… that maybe… That is, if you're interested -"

She frowned at his uncharacteristic hemming and hawing. It wasn't like Natsu to beat around the bush. In fact it was downright unnerving. "Go on."

His words suddenly tumbled out in a rush. "Maybe you'd like to have dinner together?"

The woman stared at him blankly, and Natsu felt the overwhelming compulsion to explain himself. "I mean, we're having dinner right now, so obviously we can have dinner together. But I meant more like… a date. As us. Not all weird and in disguise."

Her face fell, and she sighed through her nose. "That's very flattering." He perked up for a moment, leaning forward in anticipation. "But… I don't think it's a good idea. I'm not sure _we're_ a good idea right now."

"Oh," was his simple response, then he forced a slightly too high pitched laugh out. "It's no big. I just thought it might be fun."

"Natsu…"

"But hey! I've got an idea!" He slapped a hand on the table, trying hard to cover how much her rejection had dug in under his ribs. "We could go to the studio tomorrow! Everyone's dying to see you."

Lucy sighed again and rubbed her brow with a drink chilled hand. "I really can't… There's just so much to do."

"C'mon! You can find a few hours, right?"

"I'm in the middle of getting a really important presentation together. I don't think I can find the time or handle the distraction," she said, sounding weary.

"Seriously?" Scowling, Natsu drew back from her like she'd said something disgusting. "I mean, I get that maybe… we have stuff to work out. That's fine. I can handle it. But don't take it out on the others!"

The blonde looked positively indignant, shoving her empty glass away. "That's not it at all! I'm just really busy."

"Too busy for your friends?" he sneered. "Your job is that much more important than them? You think those suits in the boardroom care as much about you as they do?"

Lucy glanced around nervously as his voice started to rise. The diner was mostly empty at this time of night, but she really didn't want to attract attention to their rapidly escalating argument. "Oh, believe me, I have no illusions about that. Just… don't be so loud -"

"Or is this about your dad?" Her head whipped back to stare right into his furious dark eyes. "It's just like before. He snaps his fingers and you drop everything. Forget about your dreams." Natsu clenched his fists on top of the table. "Forget about your friends! Forget about -"

_But what about us?! What about the plans we made?! Are you just giving up on everyone when you worked so hard? _

"Don't!" she pleaded, eyes starting to burn. "That wasn't why -"

Natsu couldn't seem to stem the tide of frustration, muscles tense all through his shoulders and neck. "He's dead! And you're still following along with what _he_ wants even though it makes you unhappy. I couldn't stand seeing you do this to yourself before, and I can't now! You have to know that we're the ones that actually lo- What are you doing?"

Across from him, Lucy was desperately trying to type on the screen of her cellphone with shaking hands. She sucked in slow deep breaths, trying to keep her tears at bay. "C-calling a cab."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Natsu nearly choked on the lump buried up under his larynx. He swallowed and the knot simply descended to ache in his chest. _Damn it, you idiot. You made her cry. You're the worst._

Reaching out, he laid a gentle hand over her trembling ones. "No. I… It's okay." His voice was soft, all traces of ire safely squashed. "I'll take you home."

Neither said a word as he paid for their meal or as they drove down the dim, nearly abandoned streets. Her grip on him was tentative as if she was afraid to cling tightly. The silence felt like an iron bar wedged between them, unyielding and heavy. It wasn't until Lucy had dismounted in front of her tall, glass fronted building that they shared a whispered farewell.

Crawling into his own bed several hours later, Natsu stared unblinking into the gloom. He had ended up driving around aimlessly for some time after, hunting for peace of mind. Unfortunately, it stubbornly remained hidden. "Hey, Happy?"

"Yeah, Natsu?" the little blue exceed replied, curled up next to the pink head.

"Do you think… Lucy ever felt the same about me as I did about her? Maybe it's just been too long... Maybe I waited too long."

Happy wasn't one for over thinking his actions, much like his human best friend. But right at that moment, he very carefully considered his words. "I think she still cares about you. You were really great friends. That doesn't go away easily."

"I just don't get why she's acting like this," Natsu huffed. His energy was entirely spent. "Maybe it's time for a Lucy break. If I give her some space, she might come around, right?" Even the thought of letting her go again was gnawing a gaping hole in his heart.

But his question was greeted with silence. Happy really had no answer for him.

* * *

><p><strong>August 16, X793<strong>

Loke ducked around another corner, watching as the throng of fans and eager journalists were stopped by Gildarts' imposing frame. The lion had gotten lucky when Clive was momentarily distracted by a pretty girl making eyes at him. That one lapse had let him nimbly slip by.

It was far quieter deeper into the area reserved for the band and it's staff. Fairy Tail's charity concert had been a predictable success, and the stage side of the venue was absolutely swarming with people. The front rows were taken up by the well heeled wealthy who had paid obscene amounts for their tickets just to be seen by their peers, but there had been an encouraging number of people from all walks of life sitting in the other seats. There was no doubt the band had dragged in a large haul to support Magnolia's music education programs.

He, however, was not here for the show. Just a certain pink haired trouble maker.

Stepping into a doorway, Loke blended in with the shadows as Vijeeter, Jet and Max passed through the hall. The cart of sound equipment they were dragging rattled against the tiled floor, making a headache inducing clamor that slowly faded away. He leaned carefully past the threshold to confirm they were gone before treading out again.

And spun right into the immovable barrel chest of Elfman Strauss.

The white haired man frowned down at him, and Loke wasn't surprised he'd earned the nickname 'Beast Arm.' It wouldn't take much of an imagination to picture the towering giant as a fanged monster. "This area is off limits to anyone except staff and members of the band. You'll have to -" Recognition quickly lit his face along with surprise. "Loke? Is that you?"

"Ah hah hah," the spirit strained in a laugh. "Yeah, how's it going?"

The middle Strauss sibling grinned, showing off his teeth. "Hey! It's been forever! Good to see you. But… what in the world are you doing back here?"

"Well," he drawled. "Funny story… I'm actually trying to hunt down Natsu. He should be done soon, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Glancing at his watch, Elfman confirmed. "I was heading out to help Gildarts reign in the crowd. Normally I wouldn't allow this, but since it's you… Why don't you go wait in the dressing room? You should be able to catch up with Natsu there." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate one of the rooms down the hallway.

Loke favored him with a rakish smile. "Much obliged, old friend."

He almost laughed when he spotted the cliche gold star on the door with 'Fairy Tail' painted in sloppy black letters. Most likely Asuka's handy work. Inside there were a few dishes of candy and one large one of more spicy snacks. It was fairly obvious who that was for.

He didn't have to wait long.

"What was with you out there?" Gray's voice echoed down the passage outside. "Actually, what's been with you all week? You were distracted."

"It's nothin'," Natsu responded, sounding carefully buoyant. "I just got caught up in things. No big."

"No big?! You almost set Wendy's hair on fire, flamebrain!"

"At least I kept my pants on, iceprick!"

"Oh, it is so -" Gray was in the process of pushing up his sleeve and shaking a fist when he spotted Loke lounging in a chair. "- on?"

The rose haired singer's surprise was written over his whole body. "Loke? What're you doing here?" He frowned, suddenly serious. "Is Lucy okay? Did something happen?"

Standing, Loke smoothed his hands over his pitch black suit. "She's not injured, but she _is_ the reason I'm here. Gray, would you mind if I spoke to Natsu alone?"

"Yeah, sure…" Even though he seemed apprehensive, the brunette bassist backed out of the room and shut the door as he went.

The two men stared at each other for a solid minute before Loke broke the silence. "You need to talk to Lucy."

"Hey, man, I've _been_ talking to her. She's the one who doesn't want to hear me out." The Salamander shrugged, doing his best to be unaffected.

"You need to tell her." Stepping closer, the zodiac spirit lowered his voice. "I know you're the one who bought those shares in the company."

Natsu stiffened. "Wha -"

"Don't even try to deny it." Loke's face was etched in severe lines. "I was against telling her, so she doesn't know. But that was because I think _you_ need to be the one to tell her. You're not doing her any good by hiding your involvement."

Shaking his head, the star crossed his arms. He looked like a petulant child, but wasn't intimidated by the spirit. "She's too busy with her work to have time for her friends, so why should I -"

"You ass!" Loke snarled, jabbing a finger into the man's chest. "Becauses she _needs_ you! She's alone and miserable, and that _stupid_ song of yours keeps making her cry every time she hears it! There's a very real possibility that she might lose everything even though she's been working herself into the ground."

Natsu's posture deflated immediately, stubbornness caving in the face of Lucy's plight. "Is it really that bad?"

Nodding, the spirit's fury faded just a bit. "Your visits made her happier than she's been in I don't know how long. But they also caused her pain. It's not easy for her to deal with her feelings."

With a grimace, the pink haired frontman turned in a tight circle. Then he faced Loke again, rubbing the back of his head in consternation. "What am I supposed to do here? She doesn't trust me enough to let me help."

"Oh, and why would that be, I wonder?" the lion said, voice laced with sarcasm. "You of all people shouldn't be surprised after what happened." Natsu hissed through his teeth, but Loke continued. "She reached out to you, but you did nothing. Now you're shocked Lucy's having trouble letting you back in? You broke her heart, Natsu. You need to apologize and tell her how you feel, or you'll lose her for good!"

Tense as a guitar string, Natsu said nothing, his lips pressed together in a thin, pale line. The lion spirit waited expectantly, but was greeted by a stone wall of silence. Shaking his head, Loke let out a grunt of disgust. "Fine. You're so damned bullheaded, but you'll only have yourself to blame."

He strode past the pink haired man and wrenched the door open. "If you can't help her, then let her go. I'm not willing to watch you drag her down because you're trying to pretend you did nothing wrong."

Natsu didn't start breathing again until the black clad zodiac spirit was out of sight. He ran the back of his shaking hand over his mouth and forced his jaw to unclench. Distant voices carried down the hall, and he walked out of the room on unsteady legs. Nausea roiled in his stomach like he'd just spent an entire day on the bus.

"Mr. Dragneel!" The loud noise made Natsu start, and he spun to face it. Standing there was a familiar man in a hideously printed shirt with a press pass pinned to it. "Great show! I just have a few questions for you."

Groaning, the Salamander abruptly recalled having rescheduled an interview with the journalist. He scrubbed at his face. "Look, I'm really sorry to do this, but I can't right now…"

"This won't take long!" the man urged. "There's just a few things I'd like to confirm."

"I can't. This just isn't a good time, okay? So please -"

"Lucy Heartfilia."

Natsu stopped short, staring at the paisley clad interloper with a stunned expression. "Wha… What?" he managed to stutter.

The reporter smiled crookedly with a quiet chuckle. "She's your Lucy, isn't she? It seems the two of you were _very_ close friends when you were younger - 'joined at the hip' was the phrase used - and then all of the sudden, no contact at all. It makes me wonder what could have possibly happened."

Backing away, Natsu shook his head numbly. He held up his right hand as if it could block the feelings that were suffocating him. "I don't… I don't want to talk about this. Just let it go."

The man's smirk became a shark like grin. "That's fine. I understand. I'll just have to ask _her_ about it, then. After all, it might even be more interesting considering the rumors she's about to lose her company. How tragic! First her father dies, now she's not able to live up to - Urk!"

Seizing the man by the front of his awful shirt, Natsu lifted and slammed him against the wall. He leaned in so close the journalist could feel the heat streaming off his body, but it was the unnervingly sharp teeth bared at him that made the man swallowed convulsively. "If you go anywhere near her, I will _kill_ you."

Feet dangling so his toes just barely scraped the ground, the reporter stared down into void black pupils constricted in rage. "You can't… I have every right -"

Natsu banged the man against the wall hard enough to make his neck snap back and his head collide roughly with the plaster. "You don't have any right to cause her more pain! You can say whatever you want about me, but I will not let you hurt her. Do you understand me?!" The voice that came out of the star's mouth was so guttural and inhuman, the journalist could only squeak out his fear.

"Natsu, let go of him!" Elfman grabbed one of the enraged singer's forearms, trying to pull him back.

Gajeel wrapped powerful arms around his middle and lifted. "Let go! You don't want to do this!"

"The fuck I don't!" Natsu struggled, but lost his grip on the paisley fabric, leaving the reporter to slide down the wall in boneless terror. The frontman snarled when Gajeel bodily hauled him away with the middle Strauss' assistance. "Get off me!"

"Calm the hell down, and we will!" the pierced drummer snapped, finally beginning to relax his grasp. He waited until the pink haired rocker went still and silent to fully release him. "I know those guys are bastards, but you can't lose control like that." He laughed humorlessly. "And this is _me_ saying it."

Elfman peered into Natsu's eyes, trying to gauge his mood. "You okay now?" Nostrils flaring and fists clenched, the Salamander still looked ready to start a fight. Instead, he shook his head and spun to walk away.

"Hey!" Gajeel grabbed at his shoulder, and Natsu shrugged violently to get him off. "Fine!" The brunette held up his hands, irritated. "Do want you want."

Natsu stalked down the hall, brain completely shut down from fury. He couldn't even see straight he was so angry. He only pulled up short when a flying, blue furball nearly smacked into his face. The blood pounding in his ears was so loud he hadn't even heard the exceed repeatedly calling his name.

"Natsuuu!" Happy was breathing hard and waved a sheaf of papers in his face. "You need to see this! Laki says it's super important, and you need to read it right now!"

Snatching the pages from the cat with a bit more force than he intended, Natsu sent a small apologetic look at his friend. He glared at the words at first, but it quickly shifted into a frown and then awe.

"No way!" Clutching the papers in both hands, Nastu looked up at Happy with a wide eyed expression of profound excitement. "Happy! This is… This is it! You're the best!" The star took off like a shot, sandals slapping against the floor in his haste.

"Where are you going?" the feline asked, using a burst of speed to catch up.

"I gotta talk to Gramps pronto! I know what to do!" he cackled, vanishing around a corner. "I know what to do!" His mad laughter echoed even after he'd disappeared from view.

Gajeel crossed his studded arms over his chest, staring after the maniac. "Does anyone know what the fuck that was about?" The white haired giant next to him only shook his head slowly.

Nearby, Mirajane leaned over the journalist slumped on the ground. She quickly tucked a lock of long, pale hair behind her ear. "I'm so sorry about all of this. You're not hurt are you?"

Erza bent at the waist beside the singer, hands resting on her knees. "Please forgive his terrible behavior. I'm sure you don't need to report this to anyone."

The man thought that maybe his day wasn't going to be so bad after all, with two beauties beaming so winningly at him. Hell, he could even see down the white haired one's low cut shirt. Which was when he became aware of the powerful aura of malice surrounding the stunning ladies.

The She-Devil smiled in a way that was not at all reassuring. How could anyone that gorgeous have so many teeth? "Yes, there's no need to go telling anyone about this, is there?" Too many teeth...

"And no need to go bothering poor Lucy Heartfilia, either. You'll be perfectly satisfied with the exclusive press copy that Freed is going to write up for you." The redhead leaned in so her forehead was nearly touching his, and he shrank back as far as the wall behind him allowed. "Won't you?" Terror had him utterly in it's grip.

"Yes! That will be great! I'm so… lucky!" The man nearly fainted and was actually relieved when the hulking form of Elfman carted him out.


	6. Showtime

_**Author's Note: **_ _Last chapter before the epilogue, gang! I hope you've enjoyed it so far. This should explain most of Lucy and Natsu's history with each other, though I didn't want to bog down the pace of the story with too much exposition so I left a bit up to interpretation. Feel free to imagine them as the adorable teenage dorks they probably were.  
><em>_My method for deciding what other characters would appear in scenes ended up being pretty haphazard, so some folks just got bigger parts than others. Not because I liked them better, but because they just sort of muscled their way into my head. Apologies if your favorite doesn't really feature. There were a lot of them that crammed themselves into the story as it was.  
><em>_Drama and fluff ahead. I struggled a lot with the scenes in this story where Lucy and Natsu confront each other about their issues. Hopefully it comes across reasonably well.  
><em>_**Disclaimer: **__Fairy Tail is definitely not mine. I don't own any of the characters except the obnoxious reporter guy. I did write the song, however, so please don't steal it (though, why would you want to?).  
><em>_**Shout-out!: To axlorg89, my beta reader.**_

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 6: SHOWTIME<strong>

**August 18, X793**

Lucy pulled a long breath in through her nose, lips pursed and jaw clenched. She could feel the burning sensation in her sinuses from where she'd been repressing her angry tears. _There is no way I will let them see me cry!_

"I'm sure you thought it was a good idea, honey, but really… Music?" A man chuckled - one of the Junelles' cronies, she knew - and gave her a condescendingly sympathetic look. "This company is about railroads, not pop stars."

She jumped on the comment. "That's the thing! It wasn't always just about rails. _Heartfilia Musi_c has a long, rich history and we can capitalize on that! People in the industry still remember the name and hold it in high regard. With just a bit of funding -"

"There's only so much money to go around, sweetheart," the Junelle's patriarch said, Sawarr sitting complacently next to him, and she grit her teeth. "We'd get far better returns on investing more in the railroad expansion project."

Grabbing one of the packets of paper in front of her, Lucy held it up. "Except we won't. We've done extensive market research and spoken to other, comparably sized labels. The figures are all right here. I gave them to you. You can clearly see that we'd see much better returns for less -"

Junelle cut her off again with an expansive wave of his hand. "Yes, yes. We all saw your pretty graphs."

Lucy glanced at Capricorn standing next to her, face flickering with desperation. "I've already put my own money into this project. I wouldn't that need much more in comparison. It's well worth the risk."

Another of the suited gentlemen looked to the extremely disinterested Junelle before clearing his throat. "It's… a very intriguing proposal. Perhaps now is just not the time…"

Frustration made her feel light headed, and Lucy had to draw several calming breaths to steady herself. Capricorn leaned towards her and whispered quietly, "We knew this might happen. Don't let it get to you."

Not ready to give up, Lucy decided to play her last card. What good was her pride anyway at this point? If they wanted her to beg, she would. "Please… This… This is very important to me. I promise that if you just give it a chance I can make it -"

"Um!" Everyone in the room jumped when Aries spoke up from the double doors at the end of the space. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but…" She glanced nervously behind her. "One of the other shareholders came and -"

"S'up guys! Sorry I'm late!" Natsu strutted in past the ram, making his way swiftly to the empty executive chair at the end of the table as Laki scurried along behind him. He dropped into the seat and spun around gleefully. "Hey, hey! This chair is pretty cool. Any chance I can take it home?"

The board members stared in shock at the very recognizable pink haired rockstar. Decked out in his most elaborate, stage worthy gear, he was unmistakable. Junelle finally broke the dumbfounded silence, and spoke slowly like he was afraid to startle the unpredictable newcomer. "Mr. Dragneel… What exactly are you doing here?"

"Oh that! Yeah." He scratched at his cheek absently. "I kinda bought a bunch of stock in this company. Apparently, like, 52 percent of it or something." Ignoring the murmuring his announcement caused, Natsu kept speaking. "Anyway, I read all that stuff that Lucy sent out, and I think it's a great idea!"

Junelle seemed to deflate slightly. "Do you now?"

"Yep! And what's more, I'm ready to put my money where my mouth is. Our contract with our record company just ran out. Which is great, 'cause they _suck._" He slapped a hand on the table and pointed over his shoulder to Laki behind him. The violet haired lawyer held up the hefty stack of papers in her hands. "Fairy Tail wants to be the first new gig to sign up with your label! The contract's right there. All you gotta do is sign."

The table erupted in babble. Natsu couldn't help but grin at the chaos he'd sown, particularly as Junelle tried to shout down the other, very excited, members of the board. With his charismatic hold broken, they seemed to feel free to say what they truly thought of the proposal. Looking up, the star caught Lucy's stunned, chocolate eyes and winked.

"This is excellent! What a coup this will be. And my daughter is a huge fan." One of the suited men reached over to shake Natsu's hand. "You definitely have my support!"

"Yes," another piped up. "This is an excellent idea! Well done, Ms. Heartfilia. This could very well turn the company around completely! Brilliant!"

Lucy stammered, utterly at a loss. "Uh, yes! It's… pretty surprising. Ha ha…"

Slouching in his seat, the Junelle patriarch sulked. He glared at the oblivious Sawarr who had gone up to shake hands with the rockstar as well, exclaiming that he was a great fan of the band and asking to have his tie signed. Even if he refused to support the project now, he'd simply be outvoted. Not to mention losing face with the other directors for turning down a proposal that was sure to earn them money.

"Hng. Congratulations, Ms. Heartfilia," he bit out. "It looks like you've won."

Capricorn smirked and gently touched Lucy's arm, shaking her out of her stupor. The woman smiled weakly and nodded before her spirit friend moved to speak with Laki regarding the contract. Watching the barely contained anarchy, Lucy felt a painful pinch in her stomach that had her heading for the door.

Natsu managed to disengage himself from the press of wealthy men, hanging back for a moment to watch Laki as she started to work her magic. She held court like some kind of legal goddess. His grin slipped when he finally looked away, eyes searching for Lucy's figure.

"She's quite light on her feet when she wants to be," Capricorn said. The goat nodded his horned head towards the door she had exited from. "But you might be able to catch her if you hurry."

Needing no further encouragement, the young man tore out of the room. He spotted her a ways down the hall after a few false turns. "Luce! Lucy!"

His call only served to make her speed up, but unfortunately for Lucy, Natsu's longer stride had him catching up quickly. She drew in an unsteady breath when he spun her carefully around. "N-Natsu…" She sniffled pathetically. If only Virgo was here, she could dig a hole for the blonde to crawl in. The sudden relief of the stress she'd been feeling for two months blindsided Lucy, leaving her emotions to run amok.

"Hey!" Holding her at arms length, Natsu ducked his head slightly to look into her watery eyes. "What's all this? Those better be tears of joy, right? Otherwise I'm gonna have to beat someone up. Even if it's me."

She laughed and gave him a bright, damp smile. "Yeah… They're happy tears right now. Thank you. I'm sorry... for doubting you."

He was sure he'd never felt so relieved in his life. "Awesome! So I didn't screw this whole thing up. Yay me!" Bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks, he brushed away her tears with his rough thumbs. "Now that we've got that out of the way, any chance you'll come down the studio to see everyone? They're all pretty much losing their minds right about now."

Lucy gently set a hand against his wrist, prompting him to let go of her face. "Yeah. I'll… find a way to make some time. I know how impatient you guys all are."

Beaming wide enough to make his jaw ache, Natsu nodded once. "Alright! That's what I'm talkin' about. It'll be just like old times. Everyone together and -"

"Natsu." Lucy took another deep breath, praying for steady nerves. "It's been a really long time. I… don't know that I _want_ things to go back to the way they were."

"What? What do you mean?" he laughed uncertainly. "That's kinda crazy."

The woman carefully let go of his arm and stepped back with a sallow smile. "Let's not get into this out here, okay? Save it for some other time."

Shaking his head, Natsu let his grin drop. "No, no. We should talk about this. I don't want to leave it." Pulling on her sleeve, he ducked into one of the empty conference rooms that lined the hall. He shut the door behind them and turned back to face her, spreading his hands to indicate they were alone. "Here! Now we've got privacy. Tell me what you mean."

"It's… complicated…" she demurred, trying to step around him.

Tenaciously, he blocked the door. "Seriously. I want to know. It's okay. You can tell me anything! I already got around you refusing to let me help you." Natsu was frowning now, reaching for her arm even as she pulled back.

"Stop being so stubborn! Just spit it out already," he demanded. Seeing her like this was making him crazy. He couldn't handle whatever this barrier was between them. "Why are you hiding from me? I know you're not a chicken, so just tell -"

"Because you broke your promise!" Lucy cried. They stared at one another for a long, heavy moment.

"My… promise?" Natsu asked, voice cracking.

She covered her eyes with a soft hand for a second, before meeting his gaze again. Even if she was discomforted by the situation, Lucy wasn't going to back down now. If he wanted to know so badly, she would tell him. "Yes. You promised, over and over, that you'd always be there for me. But you weren't. You just... disappeared. We were about to finish college and had that huge fight about me going to grad school to get my MBA..."

Glancing to the side and then back to her face, the rock star had a strange set to his jaw. "You just gave up on your dream of being a writer. All because your dad told you that you had to."

The woman shook her head. "That's not how it went. It was still my choice and don't think it was an easy one for me. I hadn't really understood what the company meant to Mom and Dad until he actually started talking to me like I was an adult. Maybe I couldn't do exactly what I wanted but..." Lucy sighed. "I know you were disappointed - angry really, maybe even… betrayed, and that's always haunted me... But you just left! You ran off to do your music and never looked back at me."

"I… That's not..." Natsu's expression was nearly blank as he tried to catch up to his feelings.

"I sent you emails, texts, tried to call you… I even wrote you damned letters. And nothing. Not one response." As hard as she was trying to stay calm, Lucy could feel all the anger and sadness from years ago rushing at her like a tsunami. Combined with the exhaustion and frustrations over the last month, she just couldn't contain it. "Invitations to my college graduation. My grad school graduation. Emails about my first job… No answers."

She looked up at him then, gaze piercing. "I thought you _hated_ me."

"What?!" he gasped, jaw hanging slack in shock. "No! I could never -"

"And what else was I supposed to think?" Lucy laughed bitterly. "Thank God I had already started to get along better with Dad, otherwise I wouldn't have had anyone." She paused, letting her eyes drift to the big window in the room. "Of course, then he got sick. Just like Mom… He just wasted away over _years_ and there wasn't anything I could do. I sent you messages then too… I needed someone."

He watched in gnawing horror as Lucy's face suddenly crumpled. Her sob sent a spike through Natsu's aching heart. "Lucy…"

"I needed _you_!" she wailed. "I've been all alone, and it was like you were never even there to start with. I thought I'd lost you forever!" Her voice caught, but he didn't dare reach out for her now. "And then all of the sudden you show up out of the blue, acting like nothing had happened. Do you know how much that hurt?!"

He watched her weep into her hands for an agonizingly long moment before her heaving shoulders gradually stilled. The woman sniffed heavily and dashed the heel of her hand against her tears. "I… I loved you… I still do," she sighed, hiccupping slightly, and Natsu froze solid at her confession. "But I can't… I can't just go back. I know you have all these fond memories - and I do too - but what came after... It hurts to think about it, but I don't think my heart will give me a choice but to go forward."

"I'm sorry… I don't know why…" Natsu shook his head, feeling a stinging in his own eyes. It was like a black hole had opened in his chest. "I knew I should've replied - and I even wanted to! But… I just… I don't know." He looked agonized, one hand clutching frantically at his scarf, trying to draw some comfort from the cherished material. "I kept thinking and thinking about it all that time, but I couldn't -"

Lucy's delicate hand on his arm stopped his fumbling. Though her face was still wet from tears, eyes puffy and nose running, she still had the most gorgeous little smile he had ever seen. He was pretty sure his heart had stopped. "It's okay, Natsu. We both did and said things that hurt back then. I'm not angry anymore, just… sad. And someday I won't be that either."

"Lucy, I… I…" The words he desperately wanted to say lodged up under the lump sitting stubbornly in his throat. _Coward! You spineless, useless chicken!_

She gently rubbed her hand along his upper arm soothingly. "It's okay," Lucy repeated. "I don't think anyone is really to blame here. Sometimes… that's just how things are."

* * *

><p><strong>August 20, X793<strong>

"Lucy!" Gray wrapped his arms round the blonde's waist, picking her up and spinning around. "I can't believe it. It's been forever!" He set her down when she pinched his arm. Lucy really didn't want to send Juvia into a fit, and the bluenette was already starting to look a bit twitchy even if she was obviously happy to see the other woman.

Levy practically collided with her friend, hugging her as hard as she could, "Lu! I'm so happy to see you! This is incredible."

"I've missed you guys so much!" Lucy took in the crowd of Fairy Tail members that gathered around her while she returned Levy's rib bruising squeeze. Their smiles were infectious. "Erza!" She grabbed the stage manager's hand. "Is it true? Did Jellal finally pop the question?"

Erza smirked. "He sure did. Though it was after I ordered him to. I have no patience for dawdling." The blue-haired guitarist blushed mightily, crimson tattoo nearly disappearing into his skin.

"That's so great! And I heard Bisca and Alzack tied the knot too." Lucy gently nudged the dark haired Alzack in the stomach. "I thought you'd never pluck up the courage. Good on you, Al!"

Bisca beamed. "I'm just sorry Asuka couldn't be here for you to meet her."

Away from the mob of people, Natsu sat with his chin on the back of his hands and arms across the top of his reversed chair. Gajeel milled around along with Pantherlily and Laxus, none of whom cared over much for big crowds and sappy exhibitions. Happy had perched on the top of the Salamander's head, watching the scene with enthusiasm until Natsu gave him leave to go fly over to the raucous gathering. The pink haired star just couldn't quite shake off his glum attitude, observing with an uncharacteristic silence and stillness.

"Look what I've got," Mirajane interrupted in a singsong tone. She held a book up over her head with a big smile.

Juvia squealed in delight. "That's Mira's high school photo album! Juvia hasn't looked at it in ages!"

Lisanna dragged a table into the midst of the crowd and moved to stand next to Lucy, giving the blonde's hand a friendly squeeze, while her eldest sibling placed the book down where everyone could view. Elfman hawked over his sisters' shoulders as Evergreen pressed in next to him.

"Ah!" Lucy cried, pointing at one of the pictures. "Do you remember this? It was that play we were all in!"

Groaning, Gray rubbed the back of his neck. "_Into the Woods_ wasn't supposed to have a flaming enchanted forest." He could recall the smell of burning plywood scenery almost perfectly.

Erza laughed heartily. "Or a half-naked prince. You and Natsu sure got wrapped up in the story. It was a good thing Lucy was able to improvise her lines."

"I think this was that car wash fundraiser for the band," Freed commented, leaning forward to study a photo. "Yes, there's Gajeel pretending he isn't looking at Levy, and Gray acting like he didn't stare when Juvia's top got all we-."

"That's not what happened!" Gray shouted, face slightly flushed and refusing to meet the woman in question's eyes. He stared up at the ceiling and unknowingly tugged off his shirt in anxious haste. Juvia smiled shyly at him in response, catching his clothing when he tossed it aside.

Mira chortled in glee. "Oh, I liked this one! Do you remember when we were putting on a show for the children's theater?"

Lucy tipped her head to look at the next page. "Yeah. The fog machine got out of control for the _Peter and the Wolf_ number. It totally flooded the theater with that awful smelling chemical fog stuff, and no one could see a thing." Her eyes wandered to another image. "And then Natsu…" She stopped speaking at the sight of the picture of a pink haired teenager kneeling in front of a bawling child.

Picking up on the memory, Mira said, "That's right. Natsu helped that one little boy find his parents when they got separated in that mess."

"Yeah… Natsu said it was okay to cry when you're scared. That he'd be brave for the boy instead." Lucy allowed a small smile to drift her lips upwards. He'd always had such a warmth to him...

Every photo of Lucy included Natsu somewhere nearby as if it was a forgone conclusion that he would be with her. The memory of her first day of public school wormed it's way to the front of her mind, as fresh as the day it happened. Her life up until that point had been defined by what was expected of her future with the finest tutors money could buy and clothing fit for royalty, but friends had never been part of the itinerary.

She had begged and begged to be allowed to go to school with other kids her own age, but it was one of her private instructors that finally tipped the scales when he remarked to her father that the girl just wasn't developing her social skills far enough. Lucy's joy quickly melted away in the face of the overwhelming number of unknown students, many that were less than friendly to a newcomer.

Terrified and lost, she had actually screamed out loud when Natsu laid a solid hand on her shoulder to get her attention after he noticed her getting jostled in a crowded hallway. She'd been more than a little shocked when he laughed loudly and called her weird, but grabbed her arm and declared her a friend because of it. He had been the first real friend she made on her own, and he welcomed her into his warm, frenetic world with open arms. The gap in her life that he had once filled felt like a chasm now.

"Oh no!" Sticking out her tongue in a way that was contrary the poised image she normally presented, Evergreen glowered at one of the photographs. "The talent show."

Cana doubled over with laughter, gasping for breath. "Oh God! That was… the best!"

Cracking a smile, Jellal looked to his fiancé and gently draped an arm over her shoulders. "That sword fight was pretty impressive. I didn't expect you to slice right through the curtain when I parried." Erza just shook her head, amused.

"Juvia thought Gray's ice sculpture was very nice," she offered.

"It would've been fine if Natsu hadn't melted the damned thing with his fire juggling routine," the bassist grumbled. "I spent all that time working on it."

Lucy giggled as she recalled the two getting into an impressive brawl amidst the billowing exhaust from the fire extinguisher Evergreen had sprayed at them, partly to put out the smoldering fire and partly in an attempt to get them to stop. Their acrobatic maneuvers had been assumed to be part of the show and ended up winning the two rivals first place.

"Natsu seems to have always had a habit of setting things on fire," Wendy joined in. She was on the other side of the table, viewing the book upside down with open fascination. "He looks so happy with that cute little trophy."

_Hey look, Lucy! I won! How 'bout you hold on to it for me?_

Falling in love with him had been so slow and easy, Lucy hadn't even realized it was happening. She'd only just begun to consider how rich a romantic relationship with him could be when it suddenly combusted in a flurry of crushed expectations and hurt feelings. Where had things gotten so twisted around?

"Hah! Here's one of the homecoming dance!" Elfman poked one of the pages with a meaty finger, dragging Lucy out of her thoughts, and the others reminisced with enthusiasm about spiked punch and horrible retro disco music.

The dispirited Natsu managed to work up a colossal sulk an hour into their gathering, still not having moved. Finally Pantherlily glared at him. "Aren't you going to go over and join them? This tantrum of yours is getting tedious."

"It's not a tantrum!" Natsu spat, not liking the implication of his own childishness. "It's… a reserved distance."

"It's foolish," the black exceed snorted.

Laxus deliberately bumped the pink haired star's chair with his hip, snickering as the other man snarled and nearly toppled over. "You're acting like a spoiled brat. Suck it up, pansy. Go over there and plant one on her."

"I can't do that!" He gripped the top of the chair tightly.

The big blond shrugged. "Not like I care what you do, but this," he waved a hand up and down to indicate Natsu's rather pitiful state, "is just pathetic."

"Laxus is right. Moping around over here isn't solving anything," Lily said. "It's completely obvious she's as infatuated with you as you are with her. Or haven't you noticed how she keeps looking over in this direction?"

"Wha…?" Natsu's head whipped around to look at the object of their conversation. He had not, in fact, noticed her subtle glances. When she cast her gaze his way again, he dipped his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, well… that's…"

"I can't believe _we're_ the ones having to give you advice. You dumbass." Gajeel seemed completely annoyed by the situation. Touchy feely was so not his scene. "You never give up this easy. What the hell is wrong with you?"

The broad shouldered sound engineer agreed. "It seems pretty weird that you're not hanging all over her until she gives in. That's what you used to do. Seems like you're getting soft." Laxus suddenly smirked. "Is that it? You've turned into a wuss!"

Natsu growled, rising to his feet. He pushed himself up slightly on his toes so he could be eye to eye with the taller man. "You take that back! You wanna go?!"

"Please. I could take you with one hand behind my back," the blond snorted. "But if you're not some sorry little weakling, then why are you hiding from a girl who's _not_ trying to kill you? Erza on a rampage, I could see, but Lucy?"

Wavering, the rose haired star backed up a step. "That's… I can't…"

"Sure ya can," the pierced drummer punched Natsu hard on the arm, earning a glare and another snarl. "Go on. Prove you're not chicken. A real man would just go over there get 'er." Gajeel frowned. "Fuck. That sounded like Elfman."

"As shocked as I am, these two are right." Pantherlily cross his arms over his tiny chest. "You're being a coward. You have two choices. Let her go or win her heart. That is your challenge."

Natsu inhaled heavily and then bared his teeth at the three. "I'll show you! I'm not a coward..." He hesitated, taking a lingering look at the love of his life. It seriously was not fair that just the sight of her made it hard to breathe.

He'd never been sure just when their relationship had changed from best friends to breaking each other's hearts, but somehow, when they were alone, Natsu couldn't seem to put his feelings into coherent thought. Why was it so much easier spill his guts on stage, in song and in front of a thousand people, than when he was only with Lucy?

A sharp, sly smile gradually took residence on the singer's tanned face as a thought occurred to him. "And I know just how I'm gonna do it."

* * *

><p>Makarov stared at the podium with the sort of venom only someone of short stature faced with a thing they can't reach is able to muster up. If they wanted him to talk at a press conference, why were they making it so damned hard?<p>

As discreetly as she could manage, Erza slid a box in front of the podium and gave him a small smile. The droning of dozens of journalists began to die down when the elder man clambered up and loudly tapped on the microphone. He didn't even bother to suppress his chuckled at the way they all winced from the sound.

Letting his eyes skim over the crowd, Makarov paused to send a wink to Lucy who was standing off to the side with most of her spirit employees. The woman smiled warmly at him in response. "Alright, you people. Quiet now. I'm not one for long speeches, and don't expect me to say this twice," he said.

All eyes turned to him, and the band manager squared his shoulders. "I've been in music for quite a few years now, as many of you know. What you might _not_ be aware of is that I got my start in this business with _Heartfilia Music_, which makes this a neat little circle for me."

He grinned brightly, mustache twitching. "It is my proud obligation to announce that Fairy Tail has now signed a multiyear contract with _Heartfilia Music_. They will be publishing our newest album next month, so buy a bunch of copies."

The next few minutes consisted of Makarov fielding questions from excited reporters. When someone shouted "Who's Lucy?!," he finally held up a hand to stop the onslaught. "I think that's enough for now. Freed and Evergreen will be releasing press documents with all the relevant details. The rest of those questions will just have to -" Looking over his shoulder, he frowned at Natsu who had somehow sidled unnoticed up to his elbow.

The star leaned into the microphone. "Actually, I'd like to handle that one, if it's okay with you." Makarov's white brows rose towards his receded hairline, but he said nothing as he hopped down from his box.

Natsu shoved the vacated crate aside with his foot and braced both hands on the edges of the podium, face serious. "Seems like everywhere I go you guys have been asking 'who's Lucy?' You've bugged my friends about it. You've bugged me. And I'm getting kinda tired of it." He cleared his throat, shifting his weight from foot to foot in nervousness. "So here's the answer."

Lucy stared at him, wishing she could telepathically communicate with the pink haired man. "What the hell is he doing?" she whispered.

Inhaling deeply, the rose haired rocker steeled himself. "I could say some mushy crap about how she's my light and the only thing I need, but that's not really me. The truth is… I should've just jumped into the crowd and gone after her that night at the concert, even if it was just the slightest chance it was her. Letting her go was the dumbest thing I've ever done, and I've done some really dumb things. Letting her go twice?" He laughed harshly. "I'm pretty sure that would make me the biggest idiot around. All I can hope is that she'll give me one more chance."

Lifting his head, he looked right at the golden haired beauty that had stolen his heart all those years ago. His eyes held a fierce determination that had been missing from his being for longer than he cared to consider, and it made the woman gasp. "You want to know who Lucy is? She's the best thing that ever happened to me - the woman I love. She's Lucy Heartfilia!"

The crowd of journalists erupted into pandemonium, half of them shouting questions at Natsu and half trying to get a statement from Lucy. The blond CEO waved her hands in front of herself to ward them off while Elfman pushed his way through the throng, bellowing for them to make room. Taurus quickly scooped his besieged employer up and bodily tossed her to the incoming Strauss sibling, heedless of her shriek of indignation.

"I got'cha!" Elfman said reassuringly and hoisted the alarmed woman onto his shoulder and out of reach of the crowd. He plowed through the reporters like they offered no more resistance than water.

By the time they made it to the green room where the rest of the band had retreated, Makarov was glowering at a bowed pink head. "Did you see the scene you caused out there?! What were you thinking?"

Natsu scuffed his shoe against the ugly, burnt orange carpet and was about to answer when he spotted Lucy being gently set on her feet. His grin lived a short life when she strode over to him with purpose and fury. "That's what I'd like to know!" she snapped and jabbed him in the shoulder with her index finger. "Are you crazy?!"

"Yeah, well," the rock star said, eyes burning with the same ferocity she'd seen earlier, "I'm not taking any of it back. Because it's all true." Those words seemed to stop the blonde for a second.

"I… uh…" Lucy stammered, anger draining away while her blush was gaining full power.

Natsu grabbed her arms so she couldn't retreat. "I know I fucked up, and I'm not going to ask you to forgive me. If anyone should've been there when you needed someone, it's me." He stepped in closer, and Lucy realized she'd never seen him look so desperate before. "I swear I will do everything I can to never break that promise again. You'll get sick of me I'll be around so much! Just… Please, let me back into your life…"

Staring up at him, the blonde swallowed heavily but her tongue felt like it had been glued to the roof of her desert dry mouth. Nothing would come out, and her lips started to tremble.

"Oh, God, don't cry!" His warm palm came up to cradle her face. "I love you so much."

Lucy lurched forward and buried her face into the scarf around his neck, heart feeling like it was about to burst. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed uncontrollably, clutching at his torso. _This man… Always him. _ "You… You magnificent idiot!"

"Good job, furnaceface. You made her cry!" Gray called from where he was standing with everyone else. They had watched the scene unfold with unrestrained curiosity.

Natsu snarled at him. "Shut up, snowman! I'm really tryin' here!" His eyes snapped down when Lucy carefully started to push herself away from his chest.

She sniffed, swiping the back of her hand under her nose, before she brought her gaze up to look into his anxious face. The two stared at one another for a long moment. Finally, she sighed. "Well?"

"Uh," he said, completely stumped. "Well what?"

Lucy rolled her eyes at him. "Aren't you going to kiss me? I'm pretty sure that's part of the package of a flashy love confession."

Staring at her blankly, she could actually see as Natsu processed her request. His face lit up slowly but surely, grin huge and unfettered. "Whatever you want!" Bringing up an arm to wrap around her shoulders, Natsu tilted her backward before pressing his lips to hers in a sweet kiss that rapidly became smoldering.

The room filled with the heartfelt cheers of their friends. "Whoo hoo! It's about time!" Cana crowed.

"Now _that's_ manly!" Elfman nodded, feeling like he was the expert on such things. His sisters squealed in delight next to him, Lisanna hopping up and down and clapping.

Gray shook his head. "Whoa. If you're gonna start using tongue, get yourself a room, ya pyro." Natsu responded with an extended middle finger, and Lucy turned her face into his neck, overcome with giggles. Her heart had never been lighter.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note: <strong>__My original outline had Levy, Gray, and Happy being the ones to give Natsu his pep talk, but apparently Laxus, Gajeel, and Lily decided they'd be much more amusing.  
><em>_**Random AU Facts:  
><strong>__- Everyone in the actual band (not counting the stage hands and management staff) can sing rather well - except Gajeel, but he plays a mean blues guitar.  
><em>_- The band members used to have periodic rap battles, but gave up because Juvia always wins.  
><em>_- Lucy played the flute and piccolo in the high school band. She tried to take up violin to be in the orchestra but was terrible at it.  
>- Elfman and Evergreen have been on-againoff-again dating since high school. Mirajane is the only one who knows._


	7. Epilogue: Showoff

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. I'm just borrowing them for no profit.  
><em>_**Shout-out!:To axlorg89, my groovy beta-reader.**_

* * *

><p><strong>EPILOGUE: SHOWOFF<strong>

**July 1, X795**

"Stop fidgeting!" Lucy tugged on Natsu's scarf to straighten it. "You'd better not be getting a case of stage fright all of the sudden."

He snorted and batted her hands away playfully. "No way! I just hate going on tour. Those buses and the plane rides kill my stomach." Grinning, he draped himself over her shoulders enjoying the way she huffed with mock irritation. "And it means I don't get to be with you."

"Ugh!" the blonde groaned. "Why do you have to be so damned charming?"

In response, he blew a raspberry on her cheek, prompting Lucy to shake him off and swat him on the chest. "And then you go and do something like that. Jeez. At least you won't be leaving again anytime soon." She waved her hands at him in a shooing motion. "Go on, you jerk! You're supposed to be on stage in a few minutes."

Natsu spun and ran a few steps before he suddenly skid to a halt. Turning to look at her with an earnest face, he asked, "You're gonna be in the audience, right?"

"Of course!" She gave him an eager thumbs up. "It's Fairy Tail's first welcome home concert since joining _Heartfilia Music_. No way I would miss it!"

Smile huge and full of teeth, Natsu spun back and jogged off to join the band where they were congregating near the stage.

Minutes later, Lucy was thanking the usher that had insisted on escorting her to her seat in the front row. She sat gratefully and glanced back at the arena packed with excited fans. _Fairy Tail shirts as far as the eye can see. _As nice as that was for her bottom line, the blonde was reminded of how she'd stuck out two years ago in her business attire. She plucked at her powder blue dress shirt self-consciously.

Thankfully, the crowd was entirely focused on the stage, and no one paid her any mind. Though she normally wasn't bothered by the scrutiny, sometimes being the Salamander's girlfriend brought some seriously weird and unwelcomed attention. It made it tough to enjoy working on her novel in the park when strangers were staring at her and taking pictures.

It hardly seemed like it had been two full years since she'd last sat in one of these uncomfortable stadium seats. Since then, the Junelles had backed off from their takeover attempt, and Lucy found that Sawarr was actually a very useful ally. He'd decided that if she was going to fall for someone else, then his favorite musical star wasn't so bad. Now that she wasn't constantly under siege by her board of directors, Lucy was able to actually enjoy the job she'd fought so hard for.

The rail expansion hadn't gone _quite_ as planned, but wasn't a complete disaster either. Luckily, most of the complications had fallen on the Junelles end, and Lucy had been happy to simply supervise their handling of things. It was more than offset by the insanely fast growth of _Heartfilia Music_ which now had major stars from all over the continent clamoring to join up. HK&R was the most solidly profitable that it had been since her mother's passing.

She couldn't help but think of Erza and Jellal's wedding too. It had been a magical event despite one notable instance. Enraged by a pair of paparazzi photographers that had snuck in, Erza managed to pry a broadsword from the venue's eclectic wall decorations and chased the two terrified men out. Her new husband had to talk her out of pursuing them down the street in her grand wedding gown with it's long train and elaborate embellishments.

Of course, somehow Gajeel had ended up catching the bridal bouquet even though he hadn't been trying, and Levy ended up with the garter landing in her hair. The drummer hadn't complained much when he shoved the flowers at the small woman, insisting that she take them, but he'd drawn the line at letting anyone watch him put the garter on her.

Not to be outdone, Gray had casually asked Juvia out on a date. It would've been one of the more normal things to happen at the reception had the pianist not fainted dead away into his arms while he panicked and toppled them both into the punch bowl. Currently, they were ranked near the top of _Good Morning, Magnolia's_ 'Fiore's Hottest Couples' list, and Lucy suspected they would be even more popular if it weren't for Gray's dogged resistance to public displays of affection. In private, the two were downright adorable.

She turned back around when the house lights dimmed and the stage lit up. Grinning in his normal place at the front of the stage, Natsu greeted everyone over the microphone. "Heeey, Magnolia! Long time no see! Someone told me you guys kinda like our music. Is that true?" Everyone howled in confirmation.

Despite his casual crowd pleasing banter, Lucy couldn't help but think that the pink haired star seemed more on edge than normal. As the band settled into their set, she decided it must have been left over from their intense touring. He seemed as geared up as she'd ever seen him, singing his heart out and riling up everyone in the arena when he spat fire high into the air.

As the chords to the last song on their set list faded and the crowd thrashed in joy, Lucy noticed Natsu duck back behind the curtains. When he came back, the lights on the stage faded down to a single spotlight on the main microphone, and she spotted the acoustic guitar clutched in the star's hand. _Oh, God… Not that song again. _No matter how many times she heard 'Starlight,' she still ended up blushing.

The blonde frowned when he passed the instrument to Jellal who stepped up just out of reach of the light. "I hope you guys don't mind if I do just one more song. It's a pretty special one to me." It was pretty clear from the fans' cheers that they did not mind at all.

He began to sing, cupping a hand around the microphone. The words drifted across the vast stadium and seemed to bring quiet to the noisy environment. Glancing around, Lucy saw contented faces. And maybe a few shed tears and hugging couples. She looked back sharply when Natsu popped the microphone free from it's stand and approached the edge of the stage. _What the heck is he doing?_

The rose haired singer hopped nimbly off the platform, not losing the pace of his song. Stiffening, Lucy stumbled to her feet when he strolled in her direction. He didn't stop until he was right in front of her. Though his voice died down, Jellal still played on stage.

Natsu stared at her for a long moment before he let out a laugh. "Well, crap. I thought I was gonna be all smooth about this, but it's harder than I expected." He waved his free hand at the squealing crowd. "Okay, okay. I can do this!"

Lucy sucked in a breath that did nothing to quell her sudden dizziness as he dropped down on one knee. The man fished into his pocket, speaking into the microphone clenched in his white knuckled grip, "You are the most amazing woman I've ever met. I seriously don't know how I got so lucky that you'd choose me out of all the guys you could have, but now that I've got you you're so stuck with me. No way I'm ever letting go again."

He gently extended a beautiful ring towards her with a smile that outshone the modest antique cut diamond. "Lucy Heartfilia, will you marry me?"

For a terrifying moment, Lucy was certain she was going to pass out cold. Instead, she just stared, slack jawed, at the handsome man crouched in front of her. His smile started to fray at the edges as her silence dragged on, and he opened his mouth, praying to any deity that would listen he could convince her.

Natsu didn't get the chance to even try when Lucy threw herself into his arms, mashing her lips against his briefly. He wobbled up into a standing position rather than be forced to the ground by her weight. "Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

The crowd absolutely roared in elation, though they were outdone by the cheers from the band on stage. "You said yes?" Wrapping his arms around the woman he loved, Natsu couldn't quite believe he'd heard right. "You said yes! She said yes!" He kissed her back fiercely, and then broke away to lean his forehead against hers. The roar of sound from the stadium seemed to fade away in the small space between them.

He shifted his head to whisper in her ear with a familiar mischievous smile. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

Natsu hugged her close, chuckling. "Now you'll never get rid of me."

Lucy joined him in his laughter, tightening her arms around his shoulders. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The End

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>__And that's all there is, folks. Hope you enjoyed it. I had a good time putting this together, but I think it's time to retire this version of Fairy Tail. This is the end for this particular AU unless I get a really great idea.  
><em>_I had a mention in my notes that Natsu's proposal was more formal because Erza threatened to hurt him if he didn't "do it right." I couldn't find a way to work it there, but you can figure Lucy found out from Natsu later. The original notes for the epilogue were a lot more tame, but a big proposal seemed more fitting considering Natsu's gift of showmanship.  
><em>_I was really nervous when I started writing this since most of the band AU fics I'd seen were a little… well, they left something to be desired in many cases. Hopefully this was entertaining enough that you'll all forgive some of the clicheness that might've made it's way in there.  
><em>_Thank you to all of the amazing people who took the time to review this. It means a lot to me that you did that. Thanks for reading!_


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